A decent start gave way to a nightmarish second half as Atlanta United were tagged by Lionel Messi’s hat trick en route to a 3-0 loss at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta United looked the better of the two teams for much of the opening 45 minutes, doing their best to keep Lionel Messi out of the picture while the Herons appeared a bit sloppy. Atlanta, though, couldn’t punish the visitors.
Inter Miami had the best opportunity to break a 0-0 deadlock in the 41st minute, though, after ElÃas Báez cut down Messi outside the right edge of the box. But Messi’s free kick was saved brilliantly by Lucas Hoyos as the match remained scoreless.
That was, though, until the 45th minute. Luis Suarez bumped Paulo DÃaz away from the ball inside the box, gathered it, and fed a pass to Germán Berterame, whose header beat Hoyos to make it 1-0.
Early in the seocnd half, Atlanta had a great look at 1-1 as Breel Embolo found a wide-open Miguel Almirón inside the area. But Dayne St. Clair got just enough of it on a 1v1 chance to keep the match where it was.
That left an opening for Inter Miami to double the margin in the 56th minute, and of course, it was Messi. He found himself involved in a little give-and-go with Berterame at the top of the box, avoided pressure from Tómas Jacob and finished past Hoyos to make it 2-0.
The lead grew to 3-0 in the 60th minute. Suarez connected with Messi with a ball over the top, who held Júnior Alonso off all the way to goal as he completed his brace and extended his lead atop the Golden Boot standings.
Atlanta received a consolation goal as Fafa Picault won a penalty and converted from the spot to make it 3-1 in the 89th minute. But this one was all Miami as Atlanta United are now officially on the brink of elimination with the loss. They return to the pitch on Saturday against Robert Lewandowski and the Chicago Fire.