Messi now has 14 goals and 14 assists, good for fifth place in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi race. To make it even more impressive, he has amassed those figures in just over 1,100 minutes (13 appearances).

With six regular-season games remaining, the Herons hold a significant lead in the Supporters’ Shield race. They clinched an Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs spot in late August and remain on pace to set a single-season points record (62 points; 2.21 ppg).

“As we said at the beginning, we know the squad we have, and (winning the Supporters’ Shield) is a goal,” Messi said. “We are realistic and take responsibility.

“The truth is that we’ve had a lot of bad luck with injuries all year. We were never at full strength – we were always missing players for one thing or another, but the team always kept going. Today we’re in first place with a big lead, and rightly so. Hopefully we can finish top for what it means and also for what comes next.”