Messi leads Inter Miami to East semifinals with 2-goal, 2-assist showing in 4-0 win over Nashville

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are three wins away from an MLS Cup title.

Messi scored a pair of first-half goals and added two assists, leading the way as third-seeded Inter Miami ousted sixth-seeded Nashville SC 4-0 on Saturday night in the decisive Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Tadeo Allende scored a pair of goals about three minutes apart — both set up by Messi — in the second half to blow the game open for Inter Miami, which outscored Nashville 8-3 in the series. Messi had a hand in all eight of those goals, scoring five and assisting on the other three.

Inter Miami will go to FC Cincinnati for an East semifinal match — everything now is single-elimination, unlike Round 1’s best-of-three format — on Nov. 22 or Nov. 23. Cincinnati went 1-0-1 against Inter Miami this season, winning 3-0 at home on July 16 and playing to a scoreless draw at Fort Lauderdale on July 26. Messi was in the lineup for the first meeting, but not the second.

“We know Cincinnati will be a tough test,” Inter Miami's Jordi Alba — who is retiring when this playoff run ends — said after his 100th appearance with the club.

Messi is the heavy favorite to win his second straight MLS MVP award, and if that happens he would be the first back-to-back winner in league history. He also won the Golden Boot as MLS' leading scorer this season, just finalized a new three-year deal to remain with the club through 2028 and seems to be playing his best soccer at the perfect time for Inter Miami.

This is the first time Inter Miami has gotten this far in the MLS playoffs. South Florida's MLS predecessor — the long-defunct Miami Fusion — got as far as the league's semifinals in its final season in 2001, but this is new territory for Inter Miami.

A year ago, in Messi's first full season with the club, it lost a Game 3 of Round 1 at home as the Supporters Shield winners and were ousted by Atlanta.

Not this time. Messi saw to that.

With four Nashville defenders around him, Messi scored from the top of the 18-yard box in the 10th minute for a 1-0 lead. And the second goal was from nearly the same spot, albeit much easier.

Mateo Silvetti controlled a long pass and got past a Nashville defender, attracting the attention of goalkeeper Joe Willis. Silvetti pushed the ball toward Messi, who had nothing but empty net to shoot at in the 39th minute for a 2-0 edge.

“I would say the team played a near-perfect game, through the defense, midfield and attack,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said.

Inter Miami is 19-2-3 this season in MLS play when it scores at least two goals, but Nashville made the Herons earn this one.

It appeared, briefly anyway, that Nashville cut the lead in half in the opening minute of the second half, but Sam Surridge's would-have-been goal was whistled dead because one of his feet got tangled with Inter Miami's Maxi Falcon on the play and a foul got called.

The Inter Miami-Cincinnati winner will play either top-seeded Philadelphia Union or fifth-seeded NYCFC in the East final. The MLS Cup final is scheduled for Dec. 6, and Philadelphia, Cincinnati or Inter Miami would all play host that match if it got to the title game.

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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer