Inter Miami’s remarkable streak continued as they impressively defeated the reigning MLS Cup champions, LAFC. On September 3, fans across the world gathered to witness this war. LAFC would be facing off at BMO stadium with the once-in-a-lifetime transfer of Lionel Messi to Inter Miami, a world-class European midfielder with magic at his feet.
The match kicked off with LAFC dominating the field for the first ten minutes, making Inter-Miami look like rookies. LA’s twenty-eight striker, Dennis Bouanga, pressured the back line fiercely and created two opportunities for LAFC; his first shot was denied when he selfishly kept the ball to himself instead of passing the ball to Carlos Vela, who was wide open, for his second chance he waited too long to shoot and was blocked by the goalie.
In the thirteenth minute, Facundo Farías found a way to crack LAFC’s impeccable defense by splitting the lane through two defenders and receiving a thru-ball from Thomás Avilés; Farías barely caught up to the ball inside of the box and decided to slide tackle the ball offensively, this odd move caught the goalie off guard. Farías somehow put the ball in the back of the net and pulled Inter Miami ahead with the score 1-0. With LAFC having complete control over the game and then abruptly being scored on, it put them in a state of shock and disrupted their whole flow. Not to mention that scoring the first goal gave Inter-Miami the upper hand mentally.
Three minutes later, Inter Miami had possession of the ball. Messi gave a lousy ball to Diego Gomez in the center of the field, and Dennis Bouanga swept by and took full advantage of this, stealing the ball and driving the ball down the field. He gives a one-two pass to Leanardo Gonzalez back to Bouanga; Bouanga arrives at the top of the eighteen. As the keeper rushes straight at him, Bouanga has to make a split decision on which side he wants to shoot. Bouanga gets back tackled by one of the defenders but manages to get a shot still off, but Drake Callander makes an astonishing save to keep Inter Miami’s 1-0 lead.
In the first 10 minutes of the second leg of the match, Sergio Busquets found Lionel Messi and gave a beautiful lob ball; after having a perfect touch, Messi slowly moved up the field, analyzing the defenders and their movement. He located his winger and provided an ideal pass to Jordi Alba; Alba took advantage of his space and slotted the ball in the left corner of the goal, putting Inter Miami up 2-0 in the second half.
Inter Miami is on defense in the eighth minute of the match; they eventually get control of the ball and find Benjamin Cremaschi out wide. Cremaschi takes it up to the halfway line, finds Messi in the middle, and crosses it right to him; and in an attempt to block it with his chest, LAFC defenders fall to the floor and accidentally lay it off to Messi. With the fallen defender being the last man of defense, Messi is all alone sprinting down the field; he eventually slows down and waits for his wingers to catch up to him being on a numerical advantage. Substitute Leanardo Gonzalez is open on the right and demands the ball. Messi passes it to him, and he scores the last and final goal for Inter Miami, making it 3-0 for the final score.
If Inter-Miami keeps this determination and pace, there is no doubt in my mind that they are destined to be the 2023 MLS cup champions.
