LOS ANGELES — Inter Miami’s defense of its MLS Cup title began in disappointing fashion, with a 3-0 defeat to LAFC at the LA Coliseum on Saturday.
In a battle between MLS’ two brightest stars in front of the the second-highest attendance in league history of 75,673, it was LAFC’s Son Heung-Min who came out on top against Miami and Lionel Messi.
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Son, MLS’ record signing, made an impactful start to his first full season in Los Angeles, laying on an assist for David Martínez to score the game’s opening goal in the 37th minute.
Miami pressed for an equalizer for much of the second half before being hit by a sucker punch as LAFC doubled its lead. Timothy Tillman played a long pass over the top of the Miami defense and new goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was left stranded outside his penalty area to allow Denis Bouanga to take the ball round him and slot into an empty net.
After Son was taken off late on to a rapturous ovation, his replacement, Nathan Ordaz, added a third goal in stoppage-time from Bouanga’s cross.
Messi, playing his first competitive game of a year where he is likely to lead Argentina’s defense of its World Cup title, struggled to make his usual impact. His clearest sight of goal came in first-half stoppage time but the 38-year-old just missed the target as he looked to place a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Messi started the game after recovering from a hamstring injury that caused the postponement of Miami’s final preseason friendly in Puerto Rico on Feb. 13.
“When we prepared the game, we prepared the game against the best Messi possible,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said in his postgame news conference.
“And when you prepare for the best Messi around the box, you have to have numbers around him. And when he has the ball and the ball is uncovered, you have to make sure that you follow the late runs, because he finds so well the players in the pocket. Then when he starts running and playing one-twos, you have to continue with your runs.
“I think that part of our game today, A-plus, the part in possession, D. We can be much better, and we want to be much better.”
Messi was leading a new-look Miami side, without his longtime teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets following their retirements after December’s MLS Cup triumph.
Coach Javier Mascherano named three debutantes among his starting lineup. Mexico international Germán Berterame led the line ahead of Messi, while new Brazilian arrival Micael started in the center of defense in front of St. Clair.
A fourth newcomer was introduced at half-time, with Argentine full-back Facundo Mura replacing Ian Fray.
Despite the heavy loss to start the season, Mascherano said the result didn’t tell the full story of the game.
“The reality is that they beat us fair and square, that’s the truth,” Mascherano told reporters. “I think it’s often difficult to explain when you lose 3-0, three goals in a match, but my initial analysis gives me the feeling that the result was somewhat misleading.
“The game as it unfolded, there wasn’t that much of a difference.”
He added: “As coaching staff, we have to analyze the game, not just the result, because if we only focus on the result, we’re only making decisions based on whether we win or lose.”
LAFC was playing its first MLS game since being bounced from last season’s MLS playoffs at the Western Conference semifinal stage by the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the first league game under Dos Santos.
The former Vancouver head coach and longtime LAFC assistant led his team to a 6-1 win over Real España earlier this week in its Concacaf Champions Cup opener in Honduras.
ESPN’s Cesar Hernandez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
