FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi and his high-profile Inter Miami team is finally living up to the hype and meeting expectations, heading to its first MLS Cup Final in club history after an emphatic 5-1 win over NYCFC in the Eastern Conference final on Saturday night at Chase Stadium.

A year after a disappointing first-round playoff exit, the men in pink are one home win away from lifting the trophy that has eluded them. Miami will stay home and face the Vancouver Whitecaps or San Diego FC on Dec. 6 in the MLS Cup Final.

“This is for you, for all the fans, we have one game left,” Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said on the field after the game as the team celebrated on a stage at midfield with pink fireworks and confetti filling the air. The crowd, which included tennis star Carlos Alcaraz and 19 members of the U.S. Women’s National Team, celebrated the historic moment from the stands.

A spot in the final was on the line and Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano took no chances. He went with the same starting lineup against New York City FC that worked so well in back-to-back playoff routs of Nashville and FC Cincinnati.

His decision paid with a rout in a spicy Eastern Conference final on a windy Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale. And Mascherano’s exuberant celebration after the goals showed how delighted he was with the result.

Uruguayan 38-year-old legend Luis Suarez was left out of the lineup, replaced by the speedy and confident 19-year-old Argentine Mateo Silvetti, who comes from Messi’s hometown of Rosario and changed the dynamic of Miami’s offense in the previous two games.

Having Silvetti and Tadeo Allende flanking Messi gave the team more options in the final third, and that proved true again on Saturday.

Allende, coming off back-to-back braces, scored another pair of goals in the first 23 minutes to give Inter Miami a 2-0 lead and Silvetti scored the insurance goal in the 67th minute. Allende completed the hat trick in the 89th minute and Telasco Segovia scored the fourth goal after coming in as a late-game sub.

Messi provided the assist on Silvetti’s goal, the 405th of his career, which set a record for most assists in soccer history.

Allende’s first goal came at the 14-minute mark, a right-footed bullet of a shot from the right side of the box. Allende received a long pass from Sergio Busquets and then outmuscled NYC defender Raul Gustavo to get in position for the shot.

The stadium erupted as Silvetti, Busquets, Messi and Baltasar Rodriguez ran over to celebrate with Allende.

Things got testy shortly thereafter. New York’s Argentine No. 10 Maxi Moralez was issued a yellow card after a hard foul on Miami’s Maxi Falcon. Moralez got into a heated argument with Inter Miami players Marcelo Weigandt, Rodrigo De Paul and Jordi Alba. Weigandt was shown a yellow card in the 22nd minute.

One minute later, while tempers were finally settling down, Allende scored his second goal of the night, a header off a cross from Alba.

Allende struggled earlier in the season and was criticized for missing what looked like easy scoring chances. But he is making up for it in the postseason with a trio of braces and seven goals in five games.

Justin Haak got New York City back into the game in the 37th minute with a header from the center of the box after a cross from Moralez following a free kick. The score remained 2-1 at halftime.

The rest of the Inter Miami starters on a windy Saturday night were Rocco Rios Novo at goalkeeper; Weigandt, Falcon, Noah Allen and Alba in defense; Sergio Busquets, De Paul, Baltasar Rodriguez, in midfield; and Messi and Allende as strikers.

New York’s Starting XI included: Matt Freese, Thiago Martins, Kevin O’Toole, Trayvon Gray, Gustavo, Haak, Moralez, Aiden O’Neill, Jonathan Shore, Nico Fernandez and Agustin Ojeda. Their coach, Pascal Jansen, assured in the lead-up to the game that their team would not just rely on its strong defense against Miami, but had the offensive tools to be a threat.

There was a palpable playoff energy in the building as pink fireworks filled the air at the opening whistle. The crowd included 19 members of the U.S. Women’s National Team, which is playing a friendly against Italy at Chase Stadium on Monday night.

“I feel like it’s so clear just seeing the draw that he, alone, gets in whatever market he goes to, everyone wants to see him,” said U.S. midfielder Sam Coffey said of Messi’s influence on soccer in America.

“Just having that excitement, especially going into the men’s World Cup next year, and then ours, building that passion for the game in the U.S. is so key and he’s obviously a fundamental part of that. So, we’re really excited to watch him play.”

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