New England Revolution set attendance record as Lionel Messi and Inter Miami put on a show at Gillette Stadium
Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit New England Revolution welcomed a whopping 65,612 fans to Gillette Stadium in a 4-1 loss against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami this Saturday (April 27).
Prior to their record attendance against Inter Miami, the Revs' previous record was 61,316 fans in their 2002 MLS Cup contest against Los Angeles Galaxy. They also welcomed 57,406 supporters, third on the record list, in their match against Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1997.
During the recent MLS clash against the Herons, New England Revolution opened the scoring through Tomas Chancalay's first-minute goal. Messi pulled one back in the 32nd minute with a left-footed strike.
Messi, who joined Inter Miami on a Bosman move past July, put the visitors ahead after netting from Sergio Busquets' assist in the 67th minute. Benjamin Cremaschi added the Herons' third in the 83rd minute before Luis Suarez scored the last goal five minutes later.
Alexi Lalas asserts Lionel Messi's goals are being overhyped by Inter Miami supporters
After Inter Miami's 3-1 win against Nashville on April 20, ex-United States defender Alexi Lalas stated that Lionel Messi's goals do not deserve high praise. He told the State of the Union podcast (h/t TEAMtalk):
"He is incredible, and this was such an interesting game because the goals that we have now started to associate him with MLS, we've been doing it for years with Barcelona and Argentina, we're associating with these magical moments."
Lalas, who represented United States 96 times during his career, said:
"And yet, both of these goals were nothing. If it wasn't [him], we'd be like, yeah, okay, whatever. He just scored a penalty and then a broken play that he did finish off. But, the greatness is in that Messi is doing this and he's doing it consistently and for this team in pink, each and every time they go out, they're must-see TV."
However, Lalas asserted that the Argentine could break records soon:
"And more often than not, they are delivering. And individually, when it comes to [him] right now, he is on a torrid pace and if he were to keep this up, we would see a historic production."
So far, the Barcelona legend has bagged 22 goals and registered 11 assists in 24 matches across all competitions for Tata Martino's side.
The 36-year-old Argentine will next be in action for Inter Miami in their MLS home contest against New York Red Bulls on Saturday (May 4).