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On Sunday, February 25th, out on the pitch a fierce battle between two franchises in Major League soccer: LA Galaxy v. Inter Miami FC (Football Club). The game was held at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson California, at 6:00 PM.
At the end of the match, LA Galaxy was close to beating Inter Miami FC. But, soon after, the entire stadium learned why Inter Miami FC paid Lionel Messi a reported record-breaking 150 million dollars in guaranteed money. Messi slid into the goal at around the 92nd minute of play resulting in a 1-1 draw to close out the night. It truly permeates in the minds of football fans worldwide that no lead is safe with Messi in the game. The absolute maddness of this game took place in front of 27,642 fans, single- handley creating the largest atmosphere for a Galaxy match at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Although Messi did score and the entire crowd of roaring fans at Dignity Health Sports Park went into an uproar, Inter Miami FC did not put on their best performance and LA Galaxy were able to control most of the match with a decisive goal in the first offensive drive that was called back by the officiating crew for the rest of the first half was headed by a fierce defensive performance by LA Galaxy which gave not an inch to Inter Miami FC throughout the first 40 minutes of play.
LA Galaxy’s very own Dejan Joveljic scored following a rebound in the 75th minute to take a 1-0 lead, subsequently stifling Inter Miami FC and their entourage of Messi faithful. Up until that point, Inter Miami FC was playing great defense while being quite anemic on offense.
While LA Galaxy’s offense was quite entertaining, Galaxy standouts like Riqui Puig, Joseph Paintsil, Marco Mark Delgado, and Miki Yamane were electric but their defense was the star of the show. Goalie John McCarthy had multiple saves throughout the game saving the LA Galaxy.
For Inter Miami FC, Messi led all players with eight shots in the match, three of them on the goal. But Galaxy doubled Inter Miami’s total shots by match time having 23-11 over Miami.
Goalie Drake Callender was the player of the match having three saves in the first as Inter Miami and L.A. Galaxy entered halftime tied 0-0. “It was thanks in large part to him that the team was still in the match after the first half,” Martino said of Callender. Callender commented saying, “We have a long season ahead, so as long as we can keep playing consistently and fix up a few things that we’re working on tactically, then I think we’ll be okay,” Callender said.
Throughout most of the game, Inter Miami FC was stifiled appearing slow and old due to the plethora of former Barcelona stars, excluding Messi and Alba. The rest of the team did not have their best day on the pitch. Midfielder Sergio Busquets struggled in the first half appearing slow but did get in striking zone around eight times. Luis Suarez struggled throughout the match, leaving in the 67th minute as a substitute.
“I feel that the team’s best moment came after the substitutions,” Martino said. He nearly had a shot on goal before halftime but former Barcelona teammate and current Inter Miami FC teammate Jordi Alba created a penalty for himself which killed any hopes of a goal.
Although Messi nearly scored in the 89th minute, he came up short sneaking one into the back of the net past Galaxy goalie John McCarthy, who had four saves before the game-tying goal. Miami’s play was slow and labored but had some bright spots.
One minute earlier, Galaxy’s Mark Delgado picked up his second yellow card in the 88th minute, resulting in a red card and an ejection. The Galaxy finished the match with 10 players which put the LA Galaxy in an awful position. Injury did not help Miami as their own Diego Gomez, who scored in the opener, had an unspecified right leg injury.
The game overall was quite exciting for LA Galaxy and frustrating for fans of Inter Miami FC. With great saves all around and great goals between Dejan Joveljic and Messi respectively, LA Galaxy had more of a complete performance. Miami FC was not a cohesive unit as Messi willed Inter Miami to a draw. LA Galaxy’s performance was great all around having an astounding day throughout until around the 90th minute and beyond but overall having a strong demanding performance.
LA Galaxy’s next match is this Saturday at 7:30 PM against the San Jose Quakes.
Inter Miami FC’s next match is against Orlando City FC at 1:30 PM.
