MIAMI — Lionel Messi rest? Not a chance. Not when Inter Miami was on a roll and playing a home game against one of the hottest teams in Major League Soccer.

Messi, who played 90-plus minutes in the previous 14 games, was in the starting lineup against Nashville SC on Saturday night at Chase Stadium and delivered big time. He scored both goals in a 2-1 victory, his fifth brace in a row in MLS play.

The 38-year-old Argentine captain delighted the home crowd in the 17th minute, converting a free kick with a bending left-footed shot that went beneath Nashville’s jumping wall, through the only space the defenders left open and past helpless goalkeeper Joe Willis.

Messi’s teammates ran over to meet him for the celebration as the crowd, which included team co-owner David Beckham, went wild.

Messi gave Willis another nightmare in the second half. Shortly after Nashville tied the game 1-1 with a header by unmarked Hany Mukhtar in the 49th minute, Willis committed a costly error, passing the ball directly into the path of Messi, who took his time and tapped the ball into the center of the net to regain the lead for Miami.

It was Messi’s 16th goal in 16 games this season. The brace, his fifth in five consecutive games, moved Messi into a tie for the Golden Boot race lead with Nashville’s Sam Surridge, who has 16 goals in 21 games. Miami’s defense, particularly Maxi Falcon, stifled Surridge and gave him fits the entire night.

The score was tied 1-0 at halftime. As Messi headed to the tunnel, he was approached by Nashville’s Colombian defender Jeisson Palacios, who asked the Argentine icon to swap jerseys, which he did.

Nashville is off to its best start in club history and entered Saturday’s game riding a 15-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.

A year after finishing in 13th place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings, Nashville sat just one point behind first place Cincinnati.

Miami was also in peak form heading into Saturday’s game.

After being eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup Round of 16, Inter Miami returned to MLS highly motivated and delivered back-to-back road victories against CF Montreal and New England Revolution over the span of five days.

Messi scored two goals in each of those two games, and made MLS history, becoming the first player to score multiple goals in four consecutive games. Now, the streak is up to five.

In the process, Miami moved up to fifth in the East, where it remains after Saturday’s win. Miami, with three games in hand, remains on pace to match last season’s record breaking total. Miami is five points behind East leader Cincinnati, which it plays on the road Saturday and again at home July 26.

Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said 38-year-old Messi and a few of the other veteran players will need to rest at some point, but Saturday was not the time.

Joining Messi in the Miami Starting XI were: Oscar Ustari, Marcelo Weigandt, David Martinez, Maxi Falcon, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Benja Cremaschi, Telasco Segovia, Tadeo Allende and Luis Suarez.

Fede Redondo replaced Allende and Baltasar Rodriguez went in for Segovia at the 63-minute mark.

Nashville’s starters were: Joe Willis, Daniel Lovitz, Jaisson Palacios, Jack Maher, Andy Najar, Patrick Yazbek, Hany Mukhtar, Jacob Shaffelburg, Edvard Tagseth, Ahmed Qasem and Sam Surridge.

Two big reasons for Nashville’s success are Surridge and 2022 MLS MVP Mukhtar with nine goals and eight assists.

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