Al Jazeera
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami routed by LAFC in MLS season opener
Al Jazeera · Feb 22, 2026 · Collected from RSS
Summary
The Inter Miami star began his club's MLS Cup title defence with a crushing away loss to rivals Los Angeles FC.
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The Inter Miami player began his club’s MLS Cup title defence with a crushing away loss to rivals Los Angeles FC.By ReutersPublished On 22 Feb 2026David Martinez scored in the first half, Denis Bouanga scored and added an assist in the second and Los Angeles FC completed a 3-0 victory over Lionel Messi and visiting Inter Miami in the teams’ season opener on Saturday night.Substitute Nathan Ordaz added the final goal for the hosts, who moved the match to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and drew a crowd of 75,673, the second-largest in Major League Soccer (MLS) history for a regular-season game that was not part of a double-header.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Ryan Garcia defeats Mario Barrios to win WBC welterweight titlelist 2 of 4Strickland snaps Hernandez’s win streak with TKO victory at UFC Fight Nightlist 3 of 4NFL: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Rondale Moore dies aged 25list 4 of 4Nico O’Reilly double seals key 2-1 win for Man City over Newcastle Unitedend of listSon Heung-Min provided the final assist on Martinez’s opener for the Los Angeles-based football club, who have lost only twice in 16 games since signing the South Korean star last summer.Hugo Lloris made three saves for the hosts, who held Messi’s Herons scoreless in a match he played for the first time in 15 matches in all competitions, a stretch that dates back to a 3-0 regular-season loss at Charlotte on September 13.Mexican-Argentinian striker German Berterame made his debut for Miami, which held 63 percent of the possession.But LAFC threatened constantly in transition, especially during the first half, and finished the night leading 16-13 in shots and 6-3 in efforts on target.Martinez put LAFC in front in the 38th minute on one such moment.Timothy Tillman began the attack when his dogged defensive work turned over Messi’s national team teammate Rodrigo de Paul in midfield.The ball fell to Stephen Eustaquio, who played a first-touch pass to Son above the box. Son played it on into the run of Martinez down the left, and Martinez finished crisply past Dayne St Clair for his eighth career MLS goal.St Clair created trouble for himself on Bouanga’s tally in the 73rd minute, racing outside the box in an attempt to reach Tillman’s diagonal ball.But Bouanga was first by a healthy margin and headed the ball beyond the goalkeeper before finishing into a stranded goal.Bouanga then set up Ordaz to seal it in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, beating his defender down the left flank before driving in a low cross.Messi, right, was ineffective in attack against the LAFC defence in the first fixture of the new 2026 season [Jessie Alcheh/AP Photo]
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