A perfect storm hit on a picturesque Saturday at Allianz Field.

Minnesota United supporters saw their team win while also witnessing a goal from one of the greatest players of all time in a 4-1 victory on a sunny early-summer day in St. Paul.

Lionel Messi’s goal — which won’t make it anywhere near his career highlight reels — gave Loons fans a bittersweet thrill/scare when the Argentine slotted in a shot to cut MNUFC’s lead to 2-1 in the 48th minute.

MNUFC (6-2-4, 22 points) went on to nullify the brief threat with two more goals and hand Miami (6-2-3, 21 points) only its second loss on the season.

“It’s a phenomenal day for the club,” head coach Eric Ramsay said. “I’m really pleased we were able to show the club in its best light, because everyone would have woken up (Saturday) morning hoping that was the case. It’s probably one of those rare occasions where it does pan out exactly how we want it to.”

Saturday’s sold-out crowd of 19,710, according to the club, fell short of the Allianz Field record of 19,954 for LAFC in July 2023. The crowd looked like a gender reveal party, with Minnesota’s baby blue vastly outnumbering pink Messi shirts.

Here are three takeaways:

Who scored?

Instead of Messi, two first-half goals came from unlikely sources: Minnesota’s wingbacks.

Bongi Hlongwane scored his first of the season, while Anthony Markanich made it 2-0 before halftime. Credit to Markanich, he did score in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Austin FC.

After Messi scored in front of thousands wearing his shirt, an own goal from Miami defender Marcelo Weigandt and a goal from Robin Lod made it 4-1 in the 68th and 70th minutes.

When asked about Hlongwane, Ramsay touched on Lod’s first goal of the season.

“It was a really big moment and really important moment from him,” Ramsay said, “because I get asked questions a lot about Robin’s (lack of) goal contributions and the drop-off relative to last year. But I would say in spite of that, he is a real team player.”

Messi’s moment

Loons captain Michael Boxall knew Messi only needed a sliver of space to score a goal. Fellow center back Jefferson Diaz gave him those feet, and Messi’s cherished left foot put a low shot past Dayne St. Clair.

“When you have quality players on the other side, you have to be nothing but switched on. So everyone performed their jobs to a fault,” Boxall. “He’s one of the best for a reason. He gets a tough yard of space and nabs that early one. It could be a nervy second half, but we responded well.”

While the Loons gave up a goal, the performance was close to the six shoutouts Minnesota has posted in 12 games this season. “We’ve shown that real, what is hopefully becoming a, sort of, Minnesota performance,” Ramsay said.

Inside job

New Loons wingback Julian Gressel, who was waved by Miami earlier this month, provided intricacies on his old team to his new one in the week leading up to the match. On Saturday, he shared a more general observation.

“In the locker room (Saturday), he said they will be good for 30 minutes and then after that, we will get a chance,” Boxall shared.

Hlongwane scored the opening goal in the 32nd minute. “(Gressel) was spot on,” Boxall added.

Three tidbits

Miami, and especially Messi, missed striker Luis Suarez, who was absent for personal reasons Saturday. Suarez, who first played with Messi at Barcelona, has been tied for the MLS lead with six assists. … A handful of Minnesota’s star athletes turned out to see Messi in Minnesota, including the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison, the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and Taylor Heise from the Frost. … The Wonderwall’s pre-match tifo banner took a shot at the elitism perceived at Inter Miami with the message: “History over hype. Culture over cash.”