SUMMARY
- Lionel Messi's side Inter Miami faced Orlando City on March 2.
- Lionel Messi scored two goals and Inter Miami went on to win by 5-0.
Lionel Messi was once again back to his brilliant best during Inter Miami’s match against Orlando City. After a win against Real Salt Lake and a late draw against LA Galaxy, Messi managed to extend Inter Miami’s lead at the top of the table. However, one particular incident from the match has created quite a storm on social media platforms.
Inter Miami wasted no time grabbing the lead against Orlando City as Luis Suarez scored the opener in the fourth minute. The Uruguayan scored his second MLS goal just seven minutes later before setting up Robert Taylor for the third in the 29th minute. Lionel Messi also got on the scoresheet in the second half, scoring once with his chest and his second with his head in five minutes.
Messi, however, did have a chance to grab his hat trick in the dying moments of the game. Inter Miami was awarded a free kick just outside the box and upstepped the Inter Miami skipper. However, Messi’s shot agonizingly went inches above and hit a small girl sitting in the stands. Clips shared by the fans showed that the girl was left crying as her parents tried to console her.
Messi’s freekick hits a little girl. 🫣
“Are you okay, my love? Messi hit you anyway, huh. Nothing’s wrong” pic.twitter.com/xbU4rNDPwr
— Leo Messi 🔟 Fan Club (@WeAreMessi) March 3, 2024
The small girl’s father tried his best to calm down his daughter. He was even spotted saying, “Are you okay, my love? Messi hit you anyway, huh. Nothing’s wrong.” The clip has gone viral on the Internet and has amassed millions of views. Fortunately, the girl didn’t appear to be injured after being struck by the shot of the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Lionel Messi scripts history once again
Lionel Messi never appears to be getting tired of making history on the pitch. During Inter Miami’s game against LA Galaxy, Messi became the player to score at least one goal in each year for the past two decades. Against Orlando City, Messi once again scripted history. According to reports, the Inter Miami star has now scored 500 league goals in his career.
Leo Messi has scored 500 league goals.
⚽️ 474 for FC Barcelona.
⚽️ 22 for Paris Saint-Germain.
⚽️ 4 for Inter Miami.— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) March 3, 2024
Lionel Messi scored 474 goals in La Liga during his time at FC Barcelona. In the two years he spent at PSG, Messi scored 22 league goals for the French club. Currently, Messi has scored four goals in the MLS. Interestingly, only Cristiano Ronaldo has managed to achieve this feat. However, while Ronaldo took 654 matches to score 500 league goals, Messi only needed 587 matches (messivsronaldo.app).
Lionel Messi’s goal against Orlando City takes him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo
Meanwhile, reaching 500 league goals wasn’t the only milestone that Lionel Messi reached against Orlando City. The former FC Barcelona captain also set an impressive record and once again overtook his arch-rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. After his brace against Orlando City, Messi has now the most career goals without penalties in soccer history in the 21st century.
🚨🚨⚽️ — Lionel Messi surpasses Cristiano Ronaldo for most goals scored without penalty kicks:
🇦🇷 Lionel Messi: 716 goals
🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo: 715 goals🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/qHZOrqX3Nu
— Sholy Nation Sports (@Sholynationsp) March 3, 2024
Lionel Messi has now scored 716 non-penalty goals in 1050 appearances in his career. He has scored one non-penalty goal more than Ronaldo, who currently stands at 715 non-penalty goals. To put things into further context, Messi has 634 non-penalty goals in his club career and 82 non-penalty goals in his international career. Lastly, he has 440 non-penalty league goals, while Ronaldo has scored 424 non-penalty league goals.