By James NaltonSon vs. MessiAn opening-day face-off between two teams tipped to top their respective conference tables in 2026 ended in a convincing win for Los Angeles FC, as the battle between Son Heung-min and Lionel Messi went the way of the former Tottenham man.The game was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, just across the road from LAFC’s usual home, BMO Stadium, in an attempt to encourage a larger attendance for this high-profile season opener.It worked, with the crowd of 75,673 making it the second-highest all-time MLS attendance for a single game, still a bit behind the 82,110 who watched LA Galaxy vs LAFC at the Rose Bowl in 2023.The home crowd had plenty to celebrate, too, with their forward line of Son, Denis Bouanga, and David Martínez causing problems for the Inter Miami defence all game.The visitors, on the other hand, looked worryingly susceptible to transition play, as they often did in 2025, but on this occasion were unable to find the Messi magic to bail out their leaky defence.Miami’s head coach, Javier Mascherano, commented after the game that he didn’t think the three-goal margin of the defeat was a fair reflection of the game.“The reality is that they beat us fair and square,” Mascherano told reporters after the game.“I think it can be difficult to explain when you lose 3-0, but my initial analysis gives me the feeling that the result was somewhat misleading. “There wasn’t that much of a difference [between the two teams] throughout the game itself.”The stats, and in truth, the game itself, told a different story, though.Inter Miami did have 68% of the ball possession, but created an xG of just 0.85 from 12 shots. Six of those were blocked, and six were from outside the box.LAFC, on the other hand, created an xG of 3.26 and had six big chances in total. If anything, the misleading part of the result is that the home side could have scored more.Defence remains an issue for Inter Miami. Only four teams in the Eastern Conference conceded more goals than they did in 2025, and they have got off to a worrying start.It is difficult to judge them on one game against LAFC, though, as the Western Conference side have the potential to run away with their side of the league in 2026, such is their firepower in attack. Stopping Messi and co. will also give them confidence in their defence.On this evidence, the 2026 MLS season could belong to Son and LAFC.Wonderkid Mehmeti shines under boss BradleyMichael Bradley’s managerial debut at the senior team level would have been a story in itself, but, in what is no doubt a pleasing outcome for any head coach, the resulting narrative was around what he enabled his New York Red Bulls players to do in their 2-1 victory at Orlando City, rather than solely around the manager himself.In this case, it was the remarkably young lineup the former United States captain, Roma midfielder, and son of former Fulham manager Bob, fielded in this opening game, and in particular the performance of 16-year-old midfielder Adri Mehmeti.The inclusion of Mehmeti, plus 17-year-olds Matthew Dos Santos and Julian Hall, saw the Red Bulls become the first team in MLS history to start three players aged 17 or younger in a regular season game.Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (21), Ronald Donkor (21), Justin Che (22), and Cade Cowell (22) were also in the starting lineup, while two 21-year-olds, Juan Mina and Omar Valencia, and a 17-year-old, Tanner Rosborough, came off the bench in the second half.A case for a promotion to the first team could have been made for many of the young players who won the MLS Next Pro championship for the Red Bulls’ second team under Bradley last season, but the one most needed in this Red Bulls senior setup was midfielder Mehmeti.It was a composed and controlling performance from box to box by the teenage midfielder, who ended the game with a pass success of 89%, eight defensive contributions, and an assist.Rather than being a one-off injection of youth and energy with which to open the season, Bradley will be considering Mehmeti and a few others for key starting roles throughout 2026, given their performance.Crepeau leads the wayThe quality of the Red Bulls’ performance in attack is also shown in the FotMob rating of Orlando City’s goalkeeper, Maxime Crepeau, which was the highest of any player in Matchday 1.The Canadian made 11 saves in total and faced an xG on target of 5.63.The Red Bulls created eight big chances but only scored two of them, and the performance of Crepeau was enough to keep Orlando in with a chance of getting something from the game, and the result to a narrow 2-1 defeat, when it could have been much more.San Diego and Varas start stronglyAnother American head coach looking to impress in his first senior head coaching role is San Diego FC’s Mikey Varas.The 43-year-old took the 2025 expansion team to the top of the Western Conference table in their first season in the league, and began 2026 impressively with a 5-0 win against CF Montréal.It bodes well for another impressive season for the league’s newest team and another of its promising homegrown coaches.(Cover Image from IMAGO)You can follow every match from MLS with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including player ratings. 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