Third place, first warning: Messi brace puts Inter Miami back in the East Conference race

Messi turned Citi Field into a speaker. Two goals, one assist, and a warning for October.

The beep of the turnstile, a flash of pink, and then Lionel Messi did the rest. Inter Miami didn’t just clinch an MLS Cup Playoffs berth in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 24, they announced themselves, loud and clear, as a postseason problem. This wasn’t about the scoreboard first; it was about the feeling in Citi Field as an erratic, electric second half turned into a statement.

Messi authored it. He set up Baltasar Rodríguez in the 43rd, then buried two after the break (74’, 86’) while Luis Suárez added a penalty in a 4–0 dismantling of New York City FC. “I’m happy with the victory, and with how we played… it shows us the way forward,” coach Javier Mascherano said afterward, and it looked exactly like that: forward, ruthless, inevitable.

The table backed it up. Miami jumped to third in the East on 55 points, behind Philadelphia (60) and FC Cincinnati, clinching a playoffs spot with five regular-season games left and still a whisper in the Supporters’ Shield race. Expectations now shift to the only box this group hasn’t ticked: an MLS Cup run worthy of their names and their noise.

Messi, meanwhile, is bending the league back into his shape. With two more goals (and an assist) he reclaimed the Golden Boot lead at 24, became just the fourth player with eight multi-goal games in a season, and hit 37 goal contributions, being the first ever to reach 35+ in consecutive years. Sergio Busquets threaded the pre-assist to Rodríguez and the through ball for Messi’s second—another reminder of how precious this Barcelona-rich core is, and how finite. “For us, he’s a key player,” Mascherano said of Busquets, who’s been linked to retirement talk after 2025.

Even the margins told the story: Suárez, back from suspension, got his rhythm from the spot (drawn by Rodrigo De Paul), and Oscar Ustari kept his first Inter Miami clean sheet since June 14 vs. Al Ahly.

Next up: a dash north to Toronto on Sept. 27 (4:30 p.m. ET). The score will matter then. But if tonight is the template, the sensation, and that rising hum before the net ripples, might be the bigger truth.