When Inter Miami needed him most Lionel Messi stepped forward to propel his team into the CONCACAF Champions Cup and put them in pole position to clinch the second seed in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference.

Miami headed to the New England Revolution, who started Sunday night in second place in the East, with both targets hanging by a thread but a 2-1 win, courtesy of a goal and an assist from their Argentine maestro, has put them in control of their own destiny.

Continental qualification is guaranteed while a win against Charlotte FC next weekend will ensure they finish runners-up to Nashville.

Results elsewhere meant the Revs also qualified for the Champions Cup but it was a night of mixed emotions for the home side who started well and went in front through Daniel Gazdag at the start of the second half.

Miami’s season was teetering on the brink but Messi then took centre stage.

He set up Daniel Berterame for the equaliser after 69 minutes and then, with seven minutes to go, barged his way through two tackles on the edge of the area before cracking a low, left-footed drive past home goalkeeper Matt Turner for the winning goal.

We needed to win – Miami boss Gonzalez

“It makes me very happy for the players and for the club, we are on the side of contributing things,” Miami boss Kily González said. “We are at a club that is in continuous growth, I have players committed to us. We needed to win and we challenged ourselves on what kind of team we wanted to be.

“We knew we were going up against a rival that tries to seek out duels where they defend high, so the possibility of changes was to have depth, look for the spaces, and the one-on-one matchups. We struggled with ball possession, which at times was very passive. My message to the players is I need everyone. In this case, we believed we needed to make some changes.

“This doesn’t mean this is the team that’s going to start the playoffs. Everyone shows me they’re eager to want to play.”

He’s the best of all – Gonzalez hails marvellous Messi

Messi’s goal was his 26th in the league this season and he also has 16 assists.

“I have no doubt that he’s the best of all,” González said. “None of them can compare to him when it comes to respect for his colleagues. Leo at his age and what he does, from my point of view, deserves the MVP and also the Ballon d’Or. I hope he can achieve it.”