David Beckham’s Inter Miami slipped to defeat in their first ever MLS match with a 1-0 loss to Los Angeles FC.
The former England captain is the co-owner of the 25th MLS franchise who, six years on from Beckham announcing he was exercising the option to own an MLS franchise, which was part of the deal that took him to LA Galaxy in 2007 from Real Madrid, finally took to the field.
Miami, competing in the Eastern Conference, signed Scotland international forward Lewis Morgan from Celtic in January but the majority of their squad is made up of players who have plied their trade in America.
Beckham’s side, managed by two-time CONCACAF Champions League winner Diego Alonso, showed flashes of promise on their first outing against a strong LAFC unit.
LAFC only played their first MLS game in March 2018 but have reached the play-offs in each of their first two seasons in the league and clinched the Supporters’ Shield – awarded to the team with the best regular season record – last year.
And the hosts, managed by former long-serving USA head coach Bob Bradley, looked to assert their dominance in the opening stages at the Banc of California Stadium.
Former Arsenal and Real Sociedad forward Carlos Vela crossed to Diego Rossi after five minutes, but his header across goal was acrobatically saved by goalkeeper Luis Robles – who joined Inter after making 238 appearances for New York Red Bulls.
LAFC had the ball in the net four minutes later only for Mark-Anthony Kaye’s goal to be ruled out for offside against Rossi.
Miami began to grow into the contest and forced former Holland international Kenneth Vermeer into a smart save after 37 minutes, diving to his left to deny Matias Pellegrini.
.@11carlosV gave Los Angeles a gift on his birthday. #LAFCvMIA 1-0 pic.twitter.com/ZCdXyiMGfW— LAFC (@LAFC) March 1, 2020
But Vela, on his 31st birthday, produced a piece of individual brilliance to give LAFC the lead on the stroke of half-time, dancing his way to the edge of the area before executing a sublime chip over Robles.
The hosts thought they had doubled the lead 30 seconds into the second half but Rossi was denied by the offside flag once again.
Mexico international Rodolfo Pizarro then came within inches of netting Miami’s historic first goal in MLS, but his prodded effort fell just the wrong side of the post.
