It was the most anticipated match, maybe in MLS history.
From the moment Lionel Messi announced he was going to play for Inter Miami, MLS fans, American soccer fans, and basically the city of Los Angeles had September 3, 2023 circled on the calendar. That was the day that Messi and Miami would pay a visit to BMO Stadium to face off the reigning champion LAFC, who boasted its own star power in Carlos Vela, Denis Bouanga, and Giorgio Chiellini.
September 3rd finally arrived, as Messi arrived in town, and brought with him a revamped Miami squad that in addition to him, featured two former FC Barcelona greats, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, former league MVP Josef Martinez, rising homegrown player Ben Cremaschi, and ascending goalkeeper Drake Callender
Further adding to the hype surrounding the match, Inter Miami looks nothing like the team that was in last place in the Eastern Conference prior to Messi’s arrival. Since Messi donned Inter Miami’s Pink jersey, Miami has won League Cup, thus qualifying them for next year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup, they advanced to the final of the US Open Cup. Messi himself has been on fire, scoring 11 goals in all competitions.
On Sunday evening, under the bright lights of Hollywood, with A-list celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, Owen Wilson, Prince Harry, etc., Messi and Inter Miami lived up to all the hype. A first half goal from Facundo Farias, followed by second half goals from Jordi Alba and Leo Campana carried Inter Miami to a 3-1 win over LAFC.
“I feel like we continue to grow along the way,” Busquets said. “It has only been a short amount of time but in that short amount of time we have achieved a lot, including a trophy. Also, we have increased our confidence with these results and gaining three points. We will continue to gain confidence and try to reach our objectives in league that is a little tough, but we will take small steps.”
Despite playing its fifth match in two weeks, and despite having to travel 3,000 miles to LA after playing a midweek match at home against Nashville SC, Inter Miami (7-14-4, 25 points) was able to recharge and deliver a crucial three points. LAFC (11-8-7, 40 points) loses ground in the Western Conference race, as they fall to third, one point behind second-place Seattle and seven points behind first-place St. Louis.
“It’s frustrating for us; I think it’s more so frustration with ourselves,” LAFC keeper John McCarthy said. “I don’t think they knocked the ball around us and broke us down. They had some good goals and good moments, I think a lot of teams know they have some pretty special players, but I think it was just frustrating for us to just not find a way to get a result at home.”
Miami surprised LAFC in the 14th minute. Tomas Aviles sent a ball forward that eventually went into the penalty area, Farias snuck in between two LAFC defenders to chase the ball down, then took a sliding shot and Farias hit the shot right on the spot, as the ball got past McCarthy, bounced off the far post and crossed the goal line. Messi almost got on the scoresheet himself in the 38th minute, as he dribbled around the top of the penalty area, played a ball to Diego Gomez, Messi then slipped past a pair of LAFC defenders to run into the penalty area, Gomez played a perfect ball to Messi, who took a touch to evade Aaron Long, leaving him with just keeper John McCarthy standing in his way of a goal, Messi took the shot, but McCarthy made himself big, parrying the shot away from goal, and Giorgio Chiellini cleared the ball out of the penalty area.
Undeterred, Inter Miami took the lead into the halftime break, then took control of the match in the second half. Miami doubled the lead in the 51st minute, as Messi received a ball from Sergio Busquets, Messi waited, then threaded a ball through the LAFC back line, Alba timed his run just right to get to the ball, Alba touched into the penalty area, then fired the left-footed shot that best McCarthy to put Miami up by two. Miami basically sealed the three points in the 83rd minute, as Long chested a ball down, but Messi raced to the ball, then broke for goal. Messi slowed down, then played a ball to Campana, and he one-timed a shot that beat McCarthy far post to make it a 3-0 Miami lead. The only blemish on an otherwise dominant night for Inter Miami came in stoppage time, as Carlos Vela sent a corner kick into the penalty area and Ryan Hollingshead headed a ball past Callender to prevent the shutout.
“I think that we did a very good first half,” Chiellini said. “We created a lot of chances. We deserved to score and probably the game could be different. But in that type of game, against [those]type of players, when you do some mistakes, you pay that. At the end of it, that’s what happened in the second half. We weren’t able to maintain our balance and to play within our ways.”
Denis Bouanga had nearly of LAFC’s best chances in the match, the first coming in the ninth minute, as he evaded Tomas Aviles’ challenge, then led a break for goal. Bouanga had Vela on his right and Mario Gonzalez on his left, but he chose to take the shot himself, which upset Vela, as he was unmarked and thus might have had a better chance to score. Bouanga’s next chance came three minutes later, as Chiellini sent a long ball forward, Bouanga timed his run to get behind Aviles and chase the ball into the penalty area, Bouanga took a quick touch, then fired a right-footed shot, but Callender managed to parry the ball away from goal. Bouanga had another chance to find the back net after Miami took the lead, as he received a pass from Mario Gonzalez, dribbled into the penalty area and tried to chip a ball past Callender, but the shot instead missed the near post. Two other chances by Bouanga in the second half, but both shots were saved by Callender. LAFC’s one chance that did not involve Bouanga came in the 26th minute, as Ryan Hollingshead played Gonzalez into the penalty area, Callender came off his line, but made himself big enough that Gonzalez had not choice but to shoot for the near post, and Gonzalez’s shot hit the side netting.
