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New Delhi: Lionel Messi inched closer to the 900-goal mark with a brace in Inter Miami’s comeback win over Orlando City at the Inter and Co. Stadium.

Messi’s two goals inspired Miami’s comeback from 0-2 down to win 4-2, which saw the Argentinian talisman notching up his 897th and 898th goals for club and country and 79th for Miami.

His 79 goals have come in just 90 games, more than he scored with PSG and Barcelona combined. While Messi is still a long way from  Ronaldo’s 965 career goals mark, he leads the Portuguese in non-penalty goals (786 vs 778) and free-kick goals (70 vs 64).

Messi’s first game vs Orlando came in the 57th minute, which restored parity before Messi sealed the victory with a free kick in the 90th. The Major League Soccer (MLS) MVP’s first two goals of the season took his tally to 52 in his first 55 regular-season MLS matches.

It was a crucial win for Inter Miami, which had never won in its previous nine trips to Orlando and came into the match on the back of a 0-3 away loss to Los Angeles FC.

Nearly 8000 miles away in Saudi Arabia, Messi’s eternal rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, missed a rare penalty to miss a chance to get closer to the 1000-goal mark. Ronaldo missed from the spot for only the 35th time in his career, though the miss didn’t cost his team Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League clash against Al Fayha.

Al Nassr claimed a 3-1 win on the road to take a narrow lead in the Saudi Pro League table. Despite the penalty miss, Ronaldo is just 35 goals away from reaching the 1000 goals scored mark for club and country.

It was a night to forget for Ronaldo, who came into the match in fine goal-scoring form. After missing from the spot, Ronaldo picked up a knock and left the pitch before the final whistle. Sadio Mane opened tg for Al Nassr before an own goal, and a strike from Abdullah Al Hamdan completed the win.