<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Lionel Messi had two assists in front of a star-studded crowd as Inter Miami defeated Los Angeles Football Club 3-1 Sunday night.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Facundo Farías, Jordi Alba and Leonardo Campana scored for Miami, which is unbeaten in 11 matches across all competitions since Messi joined the club in mid-July.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ryan Hollingshead scored for LAFC, which has dropped its last two.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunday's match though will be Messi's last with Miami for at least the next two weeks. The 36-year-old will be part of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador on Thursday and Bolivia five days later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Messi has 11 goals and eight assists for Miami, which is eight points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with eight regular-season matches remaining.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Miami’s visit to the defending MLS Cup champions was marked as one of the highlight games since Messi signed. It was viewed by 22,921 fans, a record for LAFC’s BMO Stadium.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It also vaulted into one of the most-demanded tickets in MLS’ 27-year history.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to TickPick, the average purchase price for the match was $717, which was 515% more than the $110 before he signed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By comparison, Beyonce’s concert at SoFi Stadium had an average purchase price of $493.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Among the celebrities in attendance were Prince Harry, LAFC co-owner Will Farrell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Selena Gomez, Owen Wilson, Mario Lopez and Edward Norton.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Ted Lasso” stars Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunting also were at the game.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Messi had a wide-open shot in front of the net in the 38th minute, but McCarthy used his left foot to make the save.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Farías, who turned 21 on Aug. 28, made his second start since joining the club in late July and scored his first goal in the 14th minute.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomas Avilés made a great pass at midfield to as Farías was running up the right side of the field. Farías had an opening between two LAFC defenders and made a sliding shot with his outstretched right foot that beat LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy hit the far post and bounced in.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alba doubled LAFC's advantage in the 51st minute with a left-footer. Messi had a 2-on-1 breakaway in the 83rd minute before passing to Campana, who had a wide-open shot at the net.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hollingshead averted the shutout with a header off a corner kick. AP/UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>