(CNN) 鈥 scored two goals in 鈥檚 2-1 victory over Nashville SC on Saturday, extending his record-breaking streak of scoring multiple goals in a Major League Soccer game to five.
Victory marked Miami鈥檚 fifth consecutive win too and snapped Nashville鈥檚 15-match unbeaten streak in the league.
Messi opened the scoring in the 17th minute, threading a free kick from just outside the box through a hole in Nashville鈥檚 defensive wall and into the corner of the net, past the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Joe Willis.
That gave Miami a 1-0 lead until Nashville equalized just after halftime when Hany Mukhtar headed in Andy N谩jar鈥檚 perfectly-weighted cross.
A little over 10 minutes later, Messi put Miami back in front, capitalizing on a mistake from Willis who simply passed the ball to the Argentinian as he tried to clear it. Although Willis tried to atone for his lapse in concentration, Messi simply dribbled the ball around him and fired in an easy winner.
Not since 2012 when he played for Barcelona has Messi scored more than one goal in five consecutive league games, according to ESPN 鈥 though, admittedly, LaLiga is a very different league to the MLS.
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 very many words. It鈥檚 incredible what he continues to do,鈥 Miami head coach Javier Mascherano told reporters afterward, per MLS. 鈥淭o break great records now every three days鈥 I鈥檝e said it a thousand times today; he is the flag for our team.
鈥淗e is the one. He鈥檚 the leader. He shows us the way to compete.鈥
Messi has scored 16 goals so far this season 鈥 with 10 of those, as well as five assists 鈥 coming in his last five games. Miami, meanwhile, is fifth in the Eastern Conference but with three games in hand on all the teams above them. A win in all three games 鈥 while no small feat 鈥 would put the team top of the league.
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