Nathan Ordaz, an El Salvador international born in Los Angeles, gave LAFC a crucial lead going into the return leg in Florida on Wednesday. Ordaz scored the goal in the 57th minute.
Los Angeles FC beat Inter Miami 1-0 in their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal first-leg match on Wednesday, sending Lionel Messi and Inter Miami reeling to their first loss of the season.
Nathan Ordaz, an El Salvador international born in Los Angeles, gave LAFC a crucial lead going into the return leg in Florida on Wednesday. Ordaz scored the goal in the 57th minute.
Steve Cherundolo, the coach of LAFC, stated, “I think we saw a complete performance.” His only grievance was that his team had not won by a more convincing margin.
To be honest with ourselves, we need to improve our goal-scoring skills. We must be a bit more merciless if we are given the same opportunities in Miami the following week.”
Javier Mascherano, the coach of Miami, was not very upset about his team’s loss.
Mascherano stated, “It’s only the first leg, but we didn’t have the best night tonight.”
“Next week, we have another game. We can take the necessary actions to advance to the semifinals.”
Messi and Miami came to Los Angeles as the top Major League Soccer club, having gone undefeated in nine games in all competitions since the season began.
However, Los Angeles stepped up their game and started to cause issues for the visitors after a tense first half in which neither team was able to gain the upper hand.
Ryan Hollingshead, a fullback for LAFC, blasted into the penalty area on the overlap in the 54th minute and wasted a fantastic opportunity.
Three minutes later, Ordaz, a 21-year-old homegrown striker, made the breakthrough by smashing a low shot into the bottom corner past Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari after spinning away from former Barcelona and Spain international Sergio Busquets.
Making his first start since coming back as a substitute last weekend after a two-week injury break, Argentine sensation Messi found it difficult to establish himself in the match.
In front of a boisterous home crowd of 22,207 at the BMO Stadium, which included NBA star Stephen Curry, Miami team owner David Beckham, and Argentina national team manager Lionel Scaloni, Los Angeles instead appeared to have the best chance of scoring.
In the 63rd minute, US international Aaron Long headed a free kick barely over, and a few seconds later, Miami defender Maxi Falcon’s last-ditch goal-line save kept LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman from scoring.
In the second half, Falcon had one of Miami’s few opportunities when he glanced a header in the bottom corner, which Hugo Lloris, the former France international goalie for LAFC, easily collected.
Busquets was booked for a wild challenge on Cengiz Under, a symptom of growing Miami annoyance.
Messi’s inability to capitalize on a free kick in a good position deep into stoppage time summed up a poor evening for the Argentine, who sent his attempt whistling well over the bar as LAFC clung on for a well-earned victory.
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