On Sunday, Inter Miami defeated Major League Soccer winners Los Angeles FC 3-1, recording their most spectacular victory of the Lionel Messi era. The Argentine’s two assists helped Inter Miami’s playoff chances.

Miami won emphatically thanks to goals from Argentine forward Facundo Farias, Spanish fullback Jordi Alba, and Ecuadorian substitute Leonardo Campana. With nine games remaining, Miami is now only nine points away from the playoff spots.

A large audience, bolstered by a number of A-List celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, and Prince Harry, attended Messi’s first MLS game in Los Angeles.

However, the home supporters left angry after the MLS Cup champions from the previous year missed a number of opportunities.

The first chance fell to French-born Gabonese international Denis Bouanga, who sprinted goalward but foolishly decided to fire while Mexican Carlos Vela was unguarded to his right, much to the chagrin of his colleague.

Following a superb through ball from former Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini, Bouanga had another golden opportunity in the 11th minute, but Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender made a superb stop.

Miami took the lead in the 14th minute when Tomas Aviles split the LAFC defense to find Farias, who beat John McCarthy with a low shot on the slide after surviving those early concerns.

Miami had trouble stopping Bouanga, but the LA striker failed to take advantage of his opportunity when he broke through the middle once more. As Miami became more and more dangerous on the counter, Mario Gonzalez should have done better when given room for a shot but instead fired into the side-netting.

Messi received a deft back-heel from Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gomez as the Argentine broke forward, but McCarthy was able to stop Messi’s feeble effort.

Prior to the break, Messi had his greatest opportunity of the match, again set up by the superb Gomez, but McCarthy turned away Messi’s lofted attempt when they were one-on-one.