The Los Angeles FC sent Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Wednesday to their first defeat of the season, marking an upset victory 1-0 in their quarter-final confrontation of the Concacaf Champions Cup. A strike from the 57th minute from El Salvador International, born in Los Angeles, Nathan Ordaz, gave Lafc a precious advantage before the leg next Wednesday in Florida. “I think we saw a full performance,” said Lafc coach Steve Cherundolo, whose only complaint was that his team had failed to win by a more convincing margin. “If we are honest with ourselves, we must be a little more clear in front of the goal. If we get the same types of chances next week in Miami, we must be a little more ruthless.” Miami coach Javier Mascherano had few complaints about the defeat of his team.
“Obviously, we did not have the best night tonight, but it’s only the first leg,” said Mascherano.
“We have another match next week. We can do what we need to reach the semi-finals.”
Unbeaten in nine games in all competitions since the start of the season, Messi and Miami have arrived in Los Angeles as a major football team.
But after a first half of Cagey who saw none of the two parties to rise, Los Angeles increased their intensity and began to cause problems for visitors.
The back of the Lafc Ryan Hollingshead wasted a gold chance in the 54th minute, exploding well after having broken out in the penalty zone on overlap.
They pierced three minutes later with the 21 -year -old local striker, Ordaz, moving away from former Barcelona and International Spain Sergio Busquets and beating a low shot in the lower corner after the goalkeeper of Miami Oscar Ustari.
The Argentine superstar Messi, making her first departure since his return as a substitute last weekend after a two-week injury layoff, had trouble gaining foot in the competition.
Instead, it was Los Angeles who looked most likely to score in front of a noisy crowd of 22,207 fans at the BMO Stadium which included the superstar of the NBA Stephen Curry, the owner of the Miami team, David Beckham, and the director of the Argentine national team Lionel Scaloni.
The American international Aaron Long headed just a free kick in the 63rd minute, and a few moments later, only a desperate line of goal line of the defender of Miami Maxi Falcon denied the LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman.
Falcon had one of the rare chances of Miami in the second half, taking a look at the lower corner that the former international goalkeeper of Lafc France, Hugo Lloris, gathered comfortably.
In a sign of miami’s frustration, Busquets was reserved for a wild challenge on Cengiz Under.
A disappointing night for Messi was summarized by his inability to get the most out of a free kick in a promising position deeply in the stoppages, the Argentines sending his shot whistling well above the bar while Lafc held for a deserved victory.
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
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