LAFC brush aside Inter Miami as inter miami held scoreless in season opener
LAFC beat Inter Miami 3-0 in the MLS season opener before a crowd of 75, 673 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The result left inter miami scoreless as David Martínez, Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz found the net for the Black & Gold.
Historic crowd at the Coliseum
The match drew 75, 673 fans to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a venue described as a 100-year-old concrete monster after the opener was moved out of LAFC’s usual BMO Stadium. The attendance ranked as the second-highest attended MLS match ever, and the spectacle drew cameras and a heavy presence of Son Heung-Min supporters; pink shirts for the visitors were present but fewer than expected.
Goals and key moments
David Martínez opened the scoring in the 38th minute, a goal created when Son Heung-Min provided the assist. LAFC doubled the lead in the 73rd minute through Denis Bouanga and sealed the win when Nathan Ordaz added a stoppage-time dagger. Bouanga’s 73rd-minute strike was described in one account as a trademark finish in which he dinked the ball over 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair and rolled it into an empty net. Another description of the same goal noted a Timothy Tillman pass from about 50 yards that Bouanga met, heading the ball over Dayne St. Clair and into the net. Both accounts describe Bouanga turning an impressive win into a more emphatic victory.
Marc Dos Santos on the result
Marc Dos Santos, in his first game as LAFC head coach, framed the victory as a starting point. “It’s good to win like this and still have so much margin to progress, ” he said after securing the win. “Now we want to play and build the team. ”
Dos Santos also pointed to the team’s recent travel as a positive factor, recalling that “A very positive thing is we played Tuesday in Honduras. We flew a very long flight, we had one day of training, and we were able to suffer as a team. That quality of being able to suffer as a team together is an important quality for a team. ”
On game preparation and how LAFC handled Lionel Messi, Dos Santos said: “When we prepared for the game, we prepared to face the best Messi possible. I think that part of our game today, 'A+. ' The part of possession, ‘B’, we can be much better, and we want to be much better. But our guys were a team, suffered together, were smart dealing with a lot of plays, and that’s important going forward. ” He added in another postmatch comment: “[Inter Miami] put us [under] a lot of pressure, but we defended really well. I don’t think we conceded big chances. There were these half-chances, but overall … I think that part of our game today, A+. The part of possession, B. We can be much better, and we want to be much better, but our guys were a team. ”
Possession, Messi and Miami’s attack
The Herons kept 68 percent possession but produced only one big chance. Lionel Messi did not manage a single shot on target. New designated-player striker Germán Berterame was largely held quiet. The context underlined how Inter Miami, who had stormed through the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs by scoring 20 times in six games on their run to the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, saw the repeat talk and the gravity of Messi’s presence fail to produce goals on this night.
Players who stood out
Canadian international Stephen Eustáquio was prominent in a holding midfield role in his long-awaited MLS debut, and Son Heung-Min, identified as a South Korean superstar, provided the assist for Martínez’s opener. Denis Bouanga was highlighted as a Gabon international in one account and referenced as a Frenchman in another, with both accounts emphasizing his decisive second goal. Postmatch, Bouanga praised Martínez’s mindset: “We need to push [Martínez] in the field because he has strong quality, but now he has a changed mentality, too, ” Bouanga said.
LAFC’s recent form included a midweek Concacaf Champions Cup Round One opener, when Martínez and Bouanga both scored in a 6-1 win at Real España on Tuesday earlier in the week.
Three goals. Three points. The Black & Gold absorbed pressure, disrupted Miami’s rhythm and finished clinically to hand Inter Miami a 3-0 defeat in the season opener.
