Lionel Messi Scores Four as Inter Miami Hammer CF Montréal 7-1 in Club-Record Rout

Lionel Messi walked into Saturday night two goals behind in the Golden Boot race. He walked out two goals ahead, with a club record and a performance that played like a greatest hits album.

Messi scored four times and set up a fifth as Inter Miami CF crushed CF Montréal 7-1 at Nu Stadium in front of 26,066 fans. According to MLS, the seven goals set a club record for a single game, and Inter Miami called it the largest margin of victory in club history. Casemiro, Luis Suárez and 18-year-old Alexander Shaw also scored, and Miami rattled off six unanswered goals after Montréal had briefly pulled level.

A Real Game, for About 20 Minutes

For a while this was competitive. Messi forced an early save from Thomas Gillier in the ninth minute, and Montréal held firm until the 20th, when Miami turned a corner sequence into a goal. Casemiro first hit the left post with a header off a Telasco Segovia delivery, Germán Berterame had a shot blocked, and on the next corner Casemiro nodded Segovia's cross home from close range. It was Casemiro's first goal for the club, and the assist was Segovia's ninth of the season, which the AP called a career best.

Montréal answered in the 37th minute, two minutes after Fabian Herbers was booked. Noah Streit teed him up, and Herbers placed a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner for 1-1. It was his first goal of the season and his 21st in MLS, per CF Montréal.

Then Messi decided he had seen enough. In the 40th minute he curled a left-footed free kick into the top right corner. Miami led 2-1 at the break.

The Second-Half Avalanche

Seven minutes after the restart, Messi went on one of those runs that makes defenders question their life choices. Miami's recap described him leaving three defenders behind, and ESPN's data shows he finished with his right foot from the middle of the box into the bottom left corner. 3-1.

Montréal had its moments. Dayne St. Clair saved a Prince Owusu header in the 59th minute and a Streit shot in the 62nd. But the visitors never found a second goal, and Miami eventually turned the game into a highlight reel.

In the 80th minute Messi slipped a through ball to Suárez on a fast break, and Suárez finished into the bottom left corner for his 11th goal. Three minutes later Rodrigo De Paul found Messi in the middle of the box, and Messi chipped Gillier for the hat trick. Shaw, on in the 76th minute, smashed a shot from outside the area into the bottom left corner in the 89th for his first MLS goal. Then, in the sixth minute of stoppage time, Messi lined up another free kick and put it in the top right corner again. Same spot, same foot, same result.

Messi, Obviously

The line: four goals, one assist, nine shots, six on target. According to MLS, Messi became just the 19th player in league history to score four in a game, and at 39 he is the fastest player in MLS history to reach 20 multigoal games, getting there in 72 appearances. The AP noted it was his first four-goal game in MLS play. He now has 18 goals and 10 assists, enough to pass Petar Musa of FC Dallas for the Golden Boot lead, per MLS.

"That's what it means to have Messi on the team," Casemiro told Apple TV, per MLS. "We have to enjoy these moments because he is a person, a player who makes history."

Interim head coach Guillermo Hoyos, who watched from the stands while suspended, sounded like a fan. "I don't think he's a normal soccer player," Hoyos said. "You have to do a really deep analysis to find out what he's like, soccer-wise and as a person."

Do not overlook the supporting cast. Casemiro scored and hit the post on the same corner sequence. De Paul assisted the fifth goal, Segovia assisted the first, and Shaw, an academy product, scored with his only shot. Gillier made five saves and still conceded seven, which tells you everything about the volume and quality coming his way.

The Turning Point: Free Kick, 40th Minute

Montréal had just equalized and was arguably the team with momentum. Three minutes later, Messi's first free kick restored the lead and flipped the mood of the entire building. Herbers' goal turned out to be the last moment of the night when the visitors looked like they belonged on the same field.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: Inter Miami 12, CF Montréal 5.
• Total shots: Miami 21, Montréal 10, with Messi alone accounting for nine.
• Possession: Miami 56.5 percent.
• Saves: Gillier 5, St. Clair 3.
• Free kick goals: Two, both from Messi, both into the top right corner.

What It Means

Miami improved to 12-6-4 with 42 points. It was the club's first win since a 1-0 victory at Montréal on July 25, and MLS noted Miami had been looking to snap a five-game winless run across all competitions. The AP added that it was Miami's fifth straight win over Montréal. Even so, MLS pointed out Miami still sat 10 points behind Nashville SC in the Supporters' Shield chase. Next up is Atlanta United at home on Saturday.

CF Montréal fell to 5-6-11 with 21 points. Montréal had come in unbeaten in four (2-2 against New England, 1-1 against D.C. United, a 2-1 win at Columbus and 2-2 against the LA Galaxy), so this was a brutal reset. Montréal visits the Philadelphia Union next.

Greatest Hits, Volume Four

Every great artist has a greatest hits album, and Saturday was Messi's live version: the curling free kick, the dribble through traffic, the killer pass, the delicate chip and, for the encore, one more free kick. MLS says the night may also have been a bookend to Hoyos' interim stint, with new manager Cristian 'Kily' González set to take over once he arrives.

Whoever is on the bench, the setlist stays the same. "There are no words," Hoyos said. For Montréal, there were seven reasons why.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by MLS (mlssoccer.com); additional details from the AP, Inter Miami CF and CF Montréal.