It is clear that Lionel Messi cannot be given any extra opportunity, no matter how minimal it may be. The Los Angeles Galaxy, in their first match against the Argentinian star in the MLS, was able to corroborate this on Sunday night at their stadium in Carson, California.
A ball given to Messi by Riqui Puig near his area caused a combination between the Argentine and Jordi Alba, whose Diagonal to the area was finished off by Messi in a sweep to score the tying goal in the 92nd minute.
Galaxy’s intense opening game ended 1-1 against Inter Miami, but for the whites it tasted like defeat, or at least disappointment, because they also missed a penalty. The Galaxy played with 10 men for the final minutes due to Mark Delgado being sent off in the 88th minute after receiving his second yellow card for a foul on Sergio Busquets.
Four minutes earlier, another pass from Alba on the left wing had been finished off by Messi’s left foot with the ball going just wide, after which some shouts of “Messi, Messi” rang out in the stadium. Although the majority of fans were from the Galaxy, there were thousands of Argentine number 10 fans wearing Inter Miami or Abiceleste shirts.
The goal for the whites was scored by Dejan Joveljic in the 75th minute after a play orchestrated by Puig and Joseph Paintsil, the Galaxy’s new franchise player, who from now on has shown that he is going to be a problem for rival teams.
In the umpteenth Galaxy counterattack, the Ghanaian Paintsil gave the ball to Puig. The talented Spanish player shot, Goalkeeper Drake Callender blocked it, but the rebound went to Mark Delgado, who saw Joveljic alone on the other side of the area. The Serbian striker only pushed from the left to open the bookmark.
With the score 0-0 halfway through the second half, expectation grew for Messi’s free kick. The ball was covered by the barrier, but the ball remained in the area and Diego Gómez scored from below with good direction, only for goalkeeper John McCarthy’s shot to prevent the goal.
By then Messi, generally well marked, had attempted two shots on goal well worked by McCarthy, former LAFC goalkeeper, who had a wonderful performance.
Before the game and also during the game when watching from a suite, The public applauded David Beckham, the man who revolutionized the MLS when he joined the LA Galaxy in 2007 and that he is now one of the owners of Inter Miami.
Messi’s presence in a league stadium is largely due to Beckham, as commissioner Don Garber admitted before the game in a meeting with reporters.
Galaxy forgave a lot in the first half
At 11 minutes, Messi eluded Puig to encourage the fans, but his pass was intercepted and the Galaxy organized a counterattack that ended in a penalty awarded by referee Gabriele Ciampi for a foul by Sergio Busquets on debutant Joseph Paintsil, who was pulled of the shoulder when he headed towards the goal.
But The Galaxy could not capitalize on the opportunity because Riqui Puig’s strong shot was saved in a great way by goalkeeper Drake Callenderwho dived to his left to deflect a corner kick.
The Galaxy started its 29th. season with John McCarthy making his debut in goal after arriving from neighboring LAFC. Miki Yamane, Julian Aude, captain Maya Yoshida and Martín Cáceres in defense; Diego Fagundez, Mark Delgado, Riqui Puig and Edwin Cerrillo in midfield; Joveljic and Ghanaian Joseph Paintsil leave, making their debut in the league.
Busquets was cautioned in the 22nd minute for another foul on the dangerous African Paitsil. If he had received a yellow card in the penalty play, the legendary Catalan player would have gone to the showers early. In the second half there were more plays to the limit by Busquets, but the referee was very tolerant with him.
A few minutes later, Paintsil tested goalkeeper Callender with a right foot after the Whites stole the ball, although nothing like the play at 28 minutes when Edwin Cerrillo won a split ball from Messi, Puig received it on the edge of the area and took a bomb that Callender deflected spectacularly. The ball burst the crossbar and Paintsil, in the counterattack with a header and an open goal, kicked it out.
Paintsil had another good chance in the 31st minute on another counterattack. This time he wanted to shoot from outside the area and his shot went wide. From then on, Inter Miami took control of the ball, but with little success in the enemy area. His most dangerous play had been a raid by Messi, whose shot was blocked a few meters from the goal.
Inter Miami opened the match with Drake Callender in goal; DeAndre Yedlin, Tomás Avilés, Jordi Alba and Sergii Kryvtsov on defense; Sergio Busquets, Diego Gómez, Julian Gressel and Lionel Messi in midfield; Luis Suárez and Robert Taylor as forwards.
News in development.