🔬 The Debrief on Saturday's thrilling MLS action | OneFootball

There was bundles of drama around MLS on matchday 32. Messi returned, El Tráfico did El Tráfico things, the playoff race continued to heat up, and plenty more. Here are some of the biggest stories from around the league Saturday evening.

What happened

The evening was kicked off by the return of Lionel Messi to the Inter Miami lineup. The Argentine bagged two goals in four minutes to erase an early one-goal deficit and earn the Herons all three points. In the process, Messi became the fastest player in MLS history to reach 15 goals and 15 assists, doing it in just 19 games.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati and Columbus produced a disappointing scoreless draw in a highly-anticipated Hell is Real showdown at TQL Stadium, keeping Pat Noonan's side in the driver's seat for second place in the Eastern Conference.

A pair of sorry runs were ended down south as Nashville got the better of their rivals, Atlanta United, finally putting an end to their goal drought and an eight-game losing streak in MLS.

Orlando City stayed hot with an emphatic win over New England in Florida, seeing Óscar Pareja's side move to within three points of the top-four in the east.

Over in the Western Conference, Houston picked up a huge victory against Real Salt Lake to move up into the top-five and within touching distance of second. RSL, on the other hand, have cooled off after a scorching start to the season.

And finally, in the biggest result of the night, the Galaxy came storming back against bitter rivals LAFC, erasing a two-goal deficit to pick up a huge three points and add to their lead at the top of the Western Conference.

Goal of the night

Rafael Santos, take a bow. A peach of a curler!

Stat of the night

He's just not spoken about enough.

What this means

The playoff race is on fire in both conferences. In the east, basement-dwellers New England are only six points out of the final playoff spot in ninth. At the top of the conference, Inter Miami have extended their lead to 10 points after easing past Philadelphia, so the focus will now turn to the race for second between the two Ohio clubs.

Out west however, the Galaxy's stunning comeback win means they've opened up a seven point lead on LAFC in second, though the Black and Gold do have two games in hand in their back pocket. While Houston picked up all three points to jump into fifth, the final spot in the top-four remains occupied by Colorado after their impressive win over Portland.

What comes next

There is one final game this weekend as Seattle takes on Sporting Kansas City on Sunday before attention turns to the midweek fixtures.

Make sure to check out highlights from all the games in the OneFootball app!