Messi, unstoppable, quintuples his talent in MLS; leads Inter to victory | VIDEO

Lionel Messi was once again decisive for Inter Miami by scoring a new double against Nashville , in a match corresponding to a new MLS matchday.

At 38, Messi has extended his streak with a record of five consecutive matches scoring a brace in each of his last MLS games, a feat no player had achieved in the championship's three decades of existence. This also brings his total to 872 career goals .

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The Argentine star opened his account at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (near Miami) with a free kick goal in the 17th minute.

After German Hany Mukhtar equalised in the 49th minute, Messi gave Inter the win in the 62nd minute by capitalising on a glaring error by goalkeeper Joe Willis .

The Argentine captain also tied Englishman Sam Surridge, who will face Nashville this Saturday , at the top of the tournament's scoring charts with 16 goals.

Messi only needed 16 matches to reach that figure , compared to 22 for Surridge.

"There aren't many words. It's incredible what he keeps doing, breaking records not just every weekend but now every three days," acknowledged Inter manager Javier Mascherano.

Messi began his streak of doubles at the end of May in the thrashings of Montreal (4-2) and Columbus Crew (5-1).

Inter then halted its Major League Soccer (MLS) activity to compete in the Club World Cup , where Messi scored one goal in four matches.

After being eliminated in the round of 16 by Paris Saint-Germain , Inter returned to action in the domestic tournament with three wins in the last week against Montreal (4-1), New England Revolution (2-1) and Nashville, all of them driven by two goals from Messi.

The Argentine has a powerful momentum and was instrumental in Inter Miami's tiebreaking home victory .

INTER MIAMI, NO REST

Mascherano's team remains in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, five points behind the leader, the Philadelphia Union, but with three games in hand due to their participation in the World Cup.

Nashville remains in third place in the division, but has ended a 14-game unbeaten streak.

In their personal marathon to catch up, Inter faces two more games next week , on Wednesday away to FC Cincinnati and next Saturday also away to New York Red Bulls , in which Mascherano could give Messi some respite.

At some point, we're going to have to find a space to give him a break; we're talking about it day by day," the Argentine coach said.

We knew these weeks were going to be tough for us, but we'll keep competing this way and playing to what we believe in without compromising the team's vision or foundation, because we need to keep this good momentum going," he said.

For the time being, Mascherano continues to start with Messi and Inter's other veteran stars : Uruguayan Luis Suárez and Spaniards Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

With information from AFP.

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