Messi scores twice in Miami win

Lionel Messi scored two more goals, giving him five in three matches for Inter Miami, as he led the Herons to a 3-1 win over Orlando City on Wednesday in a Leagues Cup round-of-32 match at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

In the seventh minute, Miami’s Robert Taylor clipped a pass over the Orlando defense to an unmarked Messi in the penalty area. The Argentinian World Cup champ chested it down as he approached the 6-yard box, then volleyed in a left-footed shot.

Inter Miami held a 2-1 lead before Messi sealed the outcome in the 72nd minute. Josef Martinez’s chipped pass found Messi in almost the same spot, and Messi knocked in a right-footed volley.

Martinez’s penalty kick in the 51st minute put Miami on top after Orlando’s Cesar Araujo had leveled the score in the 17th minute.

Miami advances to a round-of-16 match against FC Dallas. The contest will be played in Frisco, Texas, on either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.

The League Cup began with every team from Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX competing. The group stage narrowed the field to 32 for the start of the single-elimination knockout rounds, which began on Wednesday. The final is scheduled for Aug. 19.