Messi scores, but Inter Miami’s 10-match MLS unbeaten streak ends in 3-1 loss to Atlanta United

Fort Lauderdale: Lionel Messi scored yet again. It was the lone real highlight for Inter Miami, as its 10-match Major League Soccer winning streak was ended by an Atlanta United side that got its first league win in nearly two months.

Saba Lobjanidze scored once in each half, Jamal Thiaré helped put the game away with a goal in the 73rd minute and Atlanta United snapped a nine-match MLS winless streak with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday night.

Atlanta United was 0-5-4 in MLS play since beating Chicago 3-0 on March 31. But it never trailed on Wednesday, with Lobjanidze scoring late in the first half to put his side on top and adding the second in the 59th minute. After Messi’s score, Atlanta United kept all 10 field players in the defensive end whenever the hosts had deep possession in the final 30 minutes.

Messi got his 11th goal of the MLS season, tying Luis Suarez for the team lead. Inter Miami (10-3-4, 34 points) kept a one-point lead atop the Eastern

Conference and the overall MLS standings over Cincinnati (10-3-3, 33 points). Cincinnati lost to Nashville on Wednesday night, missing a chance to take the top spot.

“We were missing a gear,” Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said through an interpreter.

Inter Miami entered Wednesday with a 7-0-3 mark in its last 10 MLS matches. It is now 10-0-4 when allowing two goals or less in MLS play this season — and 0-3-0 when surrendering three goals or more. “I’d say it was a night where the team went backwards from other matches,” Martino said. So, Wednesday was a dud. The first half of the season, though, has gone largely to plan. With 34 points through exactly half the MLS schedule — matching its total from all of the 2023 season.