LONDON, Aug 17 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -- Lionel Messi marked his return from injury with a goal and an assist as Inter Miami beat Los Angeles Galaxy 3-1, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The Argentina forward had spent the last couple of weeks on the sidelines after picking up a muscle injury against Necaxa in the Leagues Cup, but returned to the substitute bench and made a decisive second-half contribution.
Telasco Segovia had already had an effort disallowed for offside when Miami’s Jordi Alba opened the scoring late in the first half.
The full-back latched on to a tremendous through ball by former Barcelona team-mate Sergio Busquets and converted a low finish.
Messi was introduced as a substitute at the start of the second half, but Ghana international Joseph Paintsil equalised after 59 minutes for the Galaxy.
The 38-year-old Messi restored Miami’s lead with six minutes remaining when he skipped past two challenges before firing a low effort into the bottom corner from 20 metres.
Messi created a third for Luis Suarez in the 89th minute when he flicked Rodrigo de Paul’s pass into the path of the Uruguay striker, who fired in a low effort.
The result keeps Inter Miami firmly in the play-off picture with Javier Mascherano’s side fourth in the Eastern Conference ahead of the day’s late MLS (Major League Soccer) games.
LA Galaxy remain bottom of the Western Conference after a 16th defeat in 26 league outings.
--BERNAMA-dpa
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
