Lionel Messi has returned to the top of the MLS scoring charts after his fifth consecutive brace.
However, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is joined by an unlikely English striker in the standings.
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Both Messi and Nashville’s Sam Surridge are tied on 16 MLS goals so far this season.
Surridge’s tally has come in 22 league appearances this term following his 2023 move to the USA.
The 26-year-old is fresh from a recent goal glut after scoring in six consecutive MLS matches.
In doing so, he became the first player in the club’s history to achieve the feat.
His tally in those fixtures reached 10 goals including a hat-trick against the New England Revolution.
Prior to joining Nashville, Surridge began his career in Bournemouth’s academy.
Following loan spells at Poole, Yeovil, Oldham and Swansea, he was sold to Stoke in the summer of 2021.
An 18-month stint at Nottingham Forest would follow, which included promotion to the Premier League.
In 20 top-flight appearances for Bournemouth and Forest, Surridge scored just once.
He also amassed the same tally in three caps for England at under-21 level.
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Into his second full season in the MLS, though, the forward now has 30 goals in 59 league appearances for Nashville.
That goal return has seen Surridge score at a rate better than a goal every two matches.
However, he was unable to get on the scoresheet against Messi’s Inter Miami on Saturday night.
Instead, the reigning Supporters’ Shield winners secured a 2-1 home victory as their star man made more history,
Messi’s brace marked the fifth consecutive match in which he had scored multiple goals, extending his own MLS record.
The result also sees Miami cut the gap to Nashville in the Eastern Conference standings.
They now sit fifth in the table, three points adrift of their opponents in third.
Nashville will look to bounce back from the defeat at home to the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night.
Surridge, meanwhile, hopes to end a mini-goal drought which has now reached two MLS matches.
He has scored once in two previous meetings with Columbus, with both matches ending in a draw.