Goals from Argentine forward Facundo Farias, Spanish full-back Jordi Alba and substitute Leonardo Campana of Ecuador earned Miami a statement victory that moves them within nine points of the playoff places with nine games remaining.
After surviving those early scares, Miami took the lead in the 14th minute when Tomas Aviles split the LAFC defence to find Farias who beat John McCarthy with a low shot on the slide. Paraguay midfielder Diego Gomez broke forward and played a clever back-heel to Messi but the Argentine’s shot was weak and easily dealt with by McCarthy.
Miami were in firm control and wrapped up the win in the 83rd minute when Messi burst from midfield and slipped the ball outside to Campana who made no mistake with a curling finish. LA got a 90th-minute consolation via Ryan Hollingshead’s glancing header from a corner and while the third-placed team in the Western Conference should have little trouble making the playoffs, they had been given a lesson in finishing.
“This group grows more every day, we have been saying it since the beginning of all this. We were lucky to get a tournament and get into a final and now the goal is to get into the playoffs and fight for the league,” he added.