Los Angeles FC brushed aside defending champions Inter Miami 3-0 at the LA Coliseum on Saturday to open the MLS season, delivering a sharp reminder of their pace, power and purpose in front of 75,673 fans.
The spotlight fell on Son Heung-min and Lionel Messi, and it tilted hard towards LAFC. Son dictated tempo between the lines, while Miami chased shadows and control they never truly found.
Son made his mark with intelligence rather than flash. He slid a measured assist for David Martínez, exposing Miami’s back line that stepped late and covered space poorly.
Miami pressed after the break but left gaps behind. LAFC spotted them, hit long, and punished hesitation when Timothy Tillman clipped a ball over the top for Denis Bouanga to round the stranded keeper and finish into an empty net.
That second goal came from clarity versus chaos. LAFC stretched the pitch vertically; Miami squeezed up without synchrony and paid for it.
Son exited to a standing ovation, and LAFC kept their foot down. Nathan Ordaz arrived late to meet Bouanga’s cross and ram home a third in stoppage time.
Messi, returning from a hamstring issue, never settled. He drifted to find pockets, but LAFC crowded him early and tracked runners, limiting his angles to one half-chance that sailed over.
Afterwards, LAFC coach Marc Dos Santos laid out the plan. “When we prepared the game, we prepared the game against the best Messi possible,” he said, before praising the defensive discipline around the box. He also owned the ball work: “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.” That honesty fits a side already winning while demanding more.
