Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez miss out on becoming MLS top scorer as Premier League cult hero tops list

LIONEL MESSI and Luis Suarez have missed out on the MLS top scorer award despite their fine form this season.

They helped Inter Miami finish top of the Eastern Conference for the first time in the club’s short history.

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Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi finished joint-second in the top scorer rankings[/caption]

AP

Christian Benteke scooped the award[/caption]

It is a remarkable turnaround for David Beckham‘s team, who had only qualified for the play-offs once previously and last year finished second bottom.

Messi, 37, has rolled back the years in his first full MLS season, having joined Miami in the summer of 2023.

He helped them win the Leagues Cup last season and Inter Miami could win silverware once again now they are in the MLS Cup play-offs.

They are amongst the favourites after achieving a record-breaking points tally of 74 in the regular season, with the side packed with icons.

Messi scored his first hat-trick against New England Revolution last week and finished the regular season with 20 goals.

His team-mate Luis Suarez achieved the same total but the legendary pair were beaten to top spot by a Premier League cult hero.

Former Aston Villa, Liverpool and Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke took the top goalscorer prize after netting 23 goals for DC United.

Fans were shocked to see Benteke win with one saying: “Messi cant even outscore washed Benteke this league is so bad.”

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Another added: “Messi lost to Benteke ”

And a third wrote: “So Benteke is still balling.”

Messi managed his 20 goals in just 19 games however, compared to Benteke’s 30.