Inter Miami’s emphatic comeback was just one of the highlights of their 2-3 win against Montreal. The tension-fueled match saw Lionel Messi steal the spotlight with his heated reaction to a new MLS rule. “With this type of rule, we are doing a bad job,” he said, as the skipper was forced to wait for two minutes while trying to re-enter the pitch after receiving medical attention. Amidst the debate, former MLS stars Sebastian Salazar and Herculez Gomez are echoing La Pulga’s sentiments to ‘tweak‘ the rule instead.

Gomez started by saying the rule is implemented to ‘encourage or discourage time wasting by the opponent.’ He then explained that had George Campbell, the player who fouled Messi, had been booked for his harsh tackle, the Miami skipper wouldn’t have been asked to wait. Yet, Gomez wasn’t impressed to see the 36-year-old wait.

“Obviously, Messi and Inter Miami are not trying to time waste,” said Gomez, insisting that Tata Martino and Co. were rather trying to get more time to level the 0-2 score. “This is stupid. I understand in spirit the rule; tweak it and it works. This doesn’t make sense to time waste when you are going down and it probably didn’t help matters for Messi that he had to be out as his team’s trying to win and there’s a free kick on the field,” added the ESPN pundit. 

Luckily, Messi’s absence during the free kick was in the best interests of Miami, as Matias Rojas fired the ball over the wall to open the scoring. Luis Suarez equalized just before HT as Benjamin Cremaschi’s second half-strike sealed the win. Even though Messi failed to get his name on the scoresheet, the Florida side managed to break yet another record!

While Lionel Messi’s scoring streak came to an end, Inter Miami kept their feat alive!

Following their victory against Montreal, Inter Miami has extended their winning streak to 5 consecutive matches, marking a historic achievement for the club. Previously, David Beckham‘s soccer franchise had experienced either losses or draws interspersed between victories. Their last defeat occurred in the return leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final, where they suffered a 3-1 loss.

However, since then, they have found their balance, securing consecutive wins against Sporting KC (2-3), Nashville (3-1), New England Revolution (1-4), and NY Red Bulls (6-2). This midweek, they will have another opportunity to further extend this remarkable streak against Orlando. Additionally, this match presents Messi with a chance to resume his scoring form, which he was unable to maintain in the previous game.

But more than that, what Lionel Messi would rather hope for is that he doesn’t encounter such incidents that leave him enraged.