Inter Miami Triumphs in Texas as Lionel Messi Takes a Rest in Major League Soccer

Miami applied pressure on Houston as they attempted to build from the back. Benjamin Cremaschi successfully intercepted the ball and quickly passed it to Suarez. Suarez's precise touch set up Segovia, who calmly finished to score for Miami.

Houston responded well, enjoying plenty of possession but they were hit on the break in the 37th minute with Tadeo Allende finishing off the counter-attack with an emphatic left-foot drive.

The third came just before the interval when Yannick Bright won the ball in midfield and powered forward slipping the ball outside to Luis Suarez who found Segovia, the striker holing off a challenge from Obafemi Awodesu before poking into the corner.

Powerful

After the break, Houston had the ball in the net but Ezequiel Ponce's header was ruled out for offside.

Suarez then made it 4-0 in the 79th minute, turning and losing his markers as he powered into the box before beating Dynamo keeper Andrew Tarbell with a powerful left-foot drive.

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A Nicolas Lodeiro goal in the 85th minute provided some consolation for the home side and there was another annoyance for Miami when defender Ian Fray received a red card for an incident after the final whistle.

But it was a performance that suggested Miami, Supporters Shield winners last year for their record-breaking regular season campaign, should be a dominant force again in the Eastern Conference.

"We started really well the first half to get 3-0 up," Suarez told broadcaster Apple TV.

"We will try our best, we know last year was painful to lose (in the playoffs) to Atlanta, it was so sad and this year we will do our best to win MLS," he added.

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Defending champions Los Angeles Galaxy suffered a second straight defeat to start the season with a 2-1 loss at the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Sam Adekugbe put the home side ahead in the third minute before Gabriel Pec - after some shaky defending from Vancouver - levelled in the 39th minute.

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But three minutes from the end, Pedro Vite floated in a cross from right which Brian White met with a glancing header to grab the three points for the Canadian team.

(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)