Inter Miami shines again: 4-1 thrashing of the Red Bulls with goals by Messi and Suárez

After three costly defeats in a row, Inter Miami posted a comprehensive 4-1 win Saturday over the New York Red Bulls in the MLS with goals from its stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez.

The Uruguayan striker ended a nine-game goal drought by finishing off a counter-attack that Messi started in the 39th minute.

The Argentine star, who had also gone four games without a goal, took that thorn out of his side with a spectacular strike in the 67th minute.

Messi ran a give-and-go with Venezuelan Telasco Segovia and received the ball in the area, where he held off Swedish center back Noah Eile and fired a left-footed shot past the goalkeeper.

Haitian Fafà Picault (9') and Argentine Marcelo Weigandt (30') scored Inter's other goals in front of their home crowd in Fort Lauderdale.

Cameroonian international Jean-Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored in the 43rd minute for Red Bulls, the reigning MLS runners-up.

"We needed this win"

The thrashing breathes some air into Inter in one of their most difficult moments since Messi's arrival two years ago.

On Wednesday, Javier Mascherano's squad said goodbye to the Concacaf Champions Cup in a semifinal matchup that ended with two resounding defeats to the Vancouver Whitecaps.

In the previous MLS game, Inter also let its unbeaten run slip away with a 4-3 loss to FC Dallas.

"We needed this victory after three straight defeats and to get back to a good feeling," Mascherano acknowledged to the press.

At the same time, the Argentine coach tried to put the young club's the high expectations into context with since the arrival of Messi, Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.

"I understand that there is a lot of frustration. The ones who are most frustrated are me, the coaching staff and the players for not achieving the dream of playing in a final," the coach said of the elimination against Vancouver.

"We have to learn... Rome was not built in two days. This club has high demands but has only been competing for five years," Mascherano recalled before speaking on Suárez ending his scoring drought.

"We know that strikers live on goals. It's fundamental for their confidence," he stressed.

Chucky's first brace

With this win, Miami moved up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 21 points in 10 games played.

The Columbus Crew, which has 24 points from 11 games, extended its lead with a 4-2 win over Charlotte with a penalty goal from Uruguayan Diego Rossi.

Elsewhere, San Diego FC thrashed FC Dallas 5-0 with the first MLS brace from its leader, Mexican Hirving "Chucky" Lozano.

The former Napoli and PSV Eindhoven player, a star signing of the season in the North American league, opened the scoring by converting a penalty in the 20th minute and extended it in the 27th minute after receiving a through ball from Denmark's Anders Dreyer and dribbling past the Texan goalkeeper.

Dreyer himself (56') got the third goal and Finland's Onni Valakari (73') and American Milan Iloski (87') completed the scoring.

The Californian squad, this year's MLS debutants, are in fourth place in the West with 17 points, seven behind the leading Vancouver Whitecaps.

Lozano, who wants to earn a return to his national team for the Gold Cup, has 4 goals and 6 assists in his first eight games in the North American league.