LAFC may be used to playing in front of the Los Angeles spotlight, but with celebrities packing BMO Stadium to watch Lionel Messi and Inter Miami come to town, it was the visitors who stole the show, winning 3-1.
Facundo Farias opened the scoring in the 14th minute and Messi assisted second-half goals from Jordi Alba and Leonardo Campana as Inter Miami picked up a huge three points en route to the defending MLS champions.
For the first 45 minutes, it looked like LAFC was doing everything but scoring as Denis Bouanga was thwarted several times in front of goal, sometimes by Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender and others by his own poor finishing. Farias’ opener was against the run of play and by half-time Steven Cherundolo will be feeling their own moment coming.
After the break, however, Inter Miami gained further influence and capitalized again when Messi doubled the lead with a sensational pass to Alba. Messi then assisted on the third and final goal as Inter Miami slammed the door on Campana’s 83rd-minute strike.
The three points marked a massive shake-up for Inter Miami at the bottom of the Eastern Conference as they move to 25 on the season, still in 14th place but now just eight points off the play-off mark. LAFC dropped to third in the Western Conference, passed by the Seattle Sounders, but still have games in hand.
Inter Miami Player Rating:
GK: Callender – 7.5
RB: Yadlin- 7.3
CB: Aviles– 7.7
CB: Miller – 7.5
CB: Krytov – 7.2
LB: Alba – 8.2
MF: Cremaschi –6.6
CDM: Busquets – 7.5
MF: Gomez– 7.3
LW: Fariaz– 7.2
CF: Messi – 8.8