LAFC kicked off the MLS season with a 3-0 statement win over reigning champion Inter Miami at a packed Coliseum on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
The matchup featured Miami star Lionel Messi and attracted an announced crowd of 75,673, the second-largest for a regular season game in MLS history and the largest for a season opener.<\/p>\n
It was LAFC\u2019s ninth win without a loss in season-opening games, another record for the club.<\/p>\n
Miami tried to impose its game plan early, with several attacks down the right side of the field, and focused on making Messi the focal point of its attack. However, LAFC controlled possession and by the 12th minute already had generated two clear scoring opportunities through Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga.<\/p>\n
Son had a great chance during a one-on-one matchup against Canadian goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who managed to alter the LAFC winger\u2018s shooting angle and prevent a goal.<\/p>\n
After a poor clearance by Miami, Stephen Eust\u00e1quio stole the ball and quickly passed to Son, who saw David Mart\u00ednez running and sent a deep pass for him. Mart\u00ednez crossed the ball past St. Clair, with the Venezuelan opening the scoring in the 37th minute to give LAFC a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Mart\u00ednez had a chance to score again during first-half stoppage time when he took advantage of a defensive error on the right side of the field, but this time his shot grazed the visiting goalkeeper\u2019s right post.<\/p>\n
Miami responded with an attack, during which Messi had the perfect angle for a shot from the left, but it sailed close to LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris\u2019 top right post and did not reach the back of the net.<\/p>\n
In the second half, Miami came out determined to push LAFC back into its own territory by advancing its lines and looking to support Germ\u00e1n Berterame.<\/p>\n
New LAFC coach Marc Dos Santos\u2019 team played a waiting game, and its patience paid off when it scored its second goal in the 73rd minute. Son was at midfield when he passed back to Mathieu Choini\u00e8re, who fed Timothy Tillman, who sent a long pass to Bouanga. The French striker took advantage of St. Clair\u2019s poor clearance by chipping the ball over the goalkeeper\u2019s head to take a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n
When it looked like that would be the final score, Bouanga slipped away down the left wing and, despite defensive pressure, managed to send in a cross that new substitute Nathan Ordaz tapped in to give LAFC a 3-0 lead during second-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n
For LAFC, the match marked the beginning of a new era following the departure of coach Steve Cherundolo, who led some of the most successful chapters in the club\u2019s history, including its first MLS Cup title in 2022.<\/p>\n
LAFC opted to maintain continuity under Dos Santos, who was promoted from the assistant coaching ranks following Cherundolo\u2019s exit at the end of last season.<\/p>\n
Miami arrived in Los Angeles as the team to beat, with high morale and ambition to defend its title.<\/p>\n
The club has had historic seasons, including last year setting a record for goals in the regular season and playoffs, and has consolidated its project with world-renowned figures who have transformed its impact on and off the field.<\/p>\n
Under the leadership of coach Javier Mascherano, Miami faces a new season with a mix of experience and youth.<\/p>\n
The presence of Messi \u2014 who won most valuable player awards in consecutive seasons and the Golden Boot last year \u2014 remains the focus of media and competitive attention for the club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAFC kicked off the MLS season with a 3-0 statement win over reigning champion Inter Miami at a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4472,15150,1883,17067,17063,6308,44138,48,52,51,12407,5814,47,50,49,16142,73437,19178,278,88576,17064],"class_list":{"0":"post-188556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ball","9":"tag-clair","10":"tag-club","11":"tag-david-martinez","12":"tag-denis-bouanga","13":"tag-field","14":"tag-inter-miami","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-la-headlines","17":"tag-la-news","18":"tag-lafc","19":"tag-lead","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","22":"tag-los-angeles-news","23":"tag-messi","24":"tag-regular-season-game","25":"tag-scoring","26":"tag-season","27":"tag-several-attack","28":"tag-son-heung-min"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}