Lionel Messi continues to flourish for Inter Miami: The Argentine World Cup winner contributed two assists in a 3-1 away win at reigning champions Los Angeles FC
Inter Miami are now unbeaten in eleven competitive matches. Messi & Co. extended their club record once again with a 3-1 away win in Los Angeles. For the first time this season, coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino had all six of his summer additions in the starting eleven.
Two of them made their presence felt after just a quarter of an hour: defender Aviles sent Farias into the penalty area on the right, where he straddled the ball at the inside left-hand post to make it 1-0 (14). Three minutes earlier, Miami keeper Callender had saved the visitors from falling behind with a superb save.
Miami later took the lead into the dressing room before the former FC Barcelona stars used their usual flow to make it 2-0. Busquets served Messi in midfield, who was not properly tackled and therefore had time for his pin pass. Jordi Alba made one of his well-known deep runs, stood alone in front of keeper McCarthy on the left side of the penalty area and coolly slotted into the short corner (51st). For the left-back it was his second competitive goal in a Miami shirt and his first in MLS. For Messi, it was his first assist in the US American league.
A second would follow with seven minutes remaining, however: Los Angeles had moved wide and Messi set off on a counterattack with the ball at his feet. At the right moment, the world champion was unselfish and crossed the ball to Joker Campana, who coolly scored down the left (83rd). Hollingshead’s header from Vela’s corner was the final touch (90th).
“We are happy about the three points and also that we beat this opponent away from home with a really good collective and individual performance,” praised Miami coach Martino: “The truth is that it was a really good test for us. “
A 515 percent increase in price
And one that few celebrities in Los Angeles wanted to miss. A list of 39 celebrities who had announced their attendance for the game circulated on the internet. From Prince Harry to actors like Will Farrell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Owen Wilson and Edward Norton to basketball stars like LeBron James and James Harden – they all wanted to see Messi. So far he has scored eleven goals and set up eight for Miami, who are still eight points away from a play-off spot.
He also delivered in front of a record crowd of 22,921 at BMO Stadium and was busy signing autographs afterwards. As the AP news agency reported, citing the online ticket marketplace “TickPick”, the average price of a ticket was 717 US dollars (around 665 euros), around 515 per cent higher than the price paid before Messi was signed in mid-July.
Messi now says goodbye to the USA for the time being after the victory in Los Angeles. The 36-year-old has international matches coming up – the first two as part of World Cup qualifying against Ecuador (8 September) and against Bolivia five days later.
