Lionel Messi produced two assists as Inter Miami smashed MLS Cup champions LAFC 3-1 at a sold-out BMO Stadium on Monday.
Facundo Farias opened the scoring in the 14th minute, and Messi assisted second-half goals by Jordi Alba and Leonardo Campana as Inter Miami picked up an enormous three points on the road. Across the first 45 minutes, it felt as if LAFC did everything but score, as Denis Bouanga was foiled multiple times in front of the net, sometimes by Inter Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender and others by his own poor finishing.
Farias’s opener was against the run of play, and at halftime, Steven Cherundolo will have felt their own moment was coming. Yet after the break, Inter Miami gained further influence and profited again as Messi delivered a sensational pass to Alba to double the lead. Then, Messi assisted the third and final goal as Inter Miami slammed the door shut on Leonardo Campana’s 83rd-minute strike.
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LAFC’s Ryan Hollingshead got his consolation for a solid game as he headed home a goal off a corner kick in the 90th minute. The three points gave Inter Miami a massive jolt at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, as they move to 25 on the season, still in 14th but now just eight points below the playoff line while LAFC dropped to third in the Western Conference, passed by the Seattle Sounders but still holding games in hand.
Inter Miami are yet to lose a game since Messi arrived from Paris Saint Germain.
LAFC (4-3-3, right to left): 77. McCarthy (GK) — 30. Palencia, 33. Long, 14. Chiellini (Murillo, 54′), 24. Hollingshead — 23. Acosta (Tillman, 46′), 6. Sanchez (Krastev, 81′), 19. Bogusz — 10. Vela, 9. M. Gonzalez (Olivera, 62′), 99. Bouanga.
Inter Miami (3-5-2, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 6. Aviles, 27. Kryvtsov, 31. Miller — 2. Yedlin, 8. D. Gomez (Ulloa, 86′), 5. Busquets, 30. Cremaschi (Arroyo, 74′), 18. Alba (Allen, 82′) — 10. Messi, 11. Farias (Campana, 74′).