CNN
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Lionel Messi celebrated his return from injury in typical Messi fashion on Saturday, scoring two goals and assisting on another in four minutes and setting another Major League Soccer (MLS) record.

In his first appearance for Inter Miami in over three months, Messi became the fastest player in league history to reach 15 goals and 15 assists, reaching the mark in just 19 games – 10 fewer than anyone else. He was involved in all three of Miami’s goals on Saturday, leading his team to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union.

That effort came after Miami got off to the worst possible start, conceding a goal in the first minute of play when Mikael Uhre fired the ball past the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Drake Callender and into the net.

Miami was trailing 1-0 when Messi collected a pass from Luis Suárez in the box and fired the ball into the net to tie the game. Just four minutes later, the Argentine scored his second goal, outwitting the Philadelphia defense and slotting the ball into the net from an almost identical position.

Only Callender’s last-gasp save prevented Philadelphia from equalizing in the 85th minute, but Miami secured the win soon after when Messi turned in the assist and fed Suárez, who slotted a clean shot into the corner. That goal was Suárez’s 17th of the season, setting up a new club record for most goals in a single MLS regular season.

Afterwards, Messi – who had not played since July 14, when he sustained an injury in the Copa América final for Argentina – admitted that he was “a little tired”.

“The heat and humidity in Miami don’t help much either, but I really wanted to come back, I hadn’t been on the field for a long time,” he told TNT Sports afterwards, which, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

“Little by little I trained with the group, felt comfortable and so we decided that I would start and I am very happy – very happy.”