Nathan Ordaz scores, LAFC blanks Leo Messi and Inter Miami 1-0 in 1st leg of CONCACAF Champions Cup

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan Ordaz scored in the 57th minute, and Los Angeles FC kept Lionel Messi off the scoresheet Wednesday night in a 1-0 victory over Inter Miami in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal matchup.

Messi had produced a goal (5) or an assist (2) in each of his first six Champions Cup appearances since joining Miami two years ago, including three goals in the early rounds of this year's tournament.

After returning from injury only last weekend, Messi played the entire match in Los Angeles. He put two of his five shots on target, but Hugo Lloris stopped both chances.

“I think (Messi) always had a black jersey in front of him, and that’s the point,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “You can’t always defend him, nor can you always shut down Jordi Alba, (Sergio) Busquets, (Luis) Suárez. … Those guys are going to get a chance or two, and the only way to defend players of that quality and teams of that quality is with a collective effort.”

The loss was the first of 2025 for Miami, which had won seven straight matches across all competitions while starting 8-0-1 under new coach Javier Mascherano.

“It was a game that we expected,” Mascherano said after his first defeat with Miami. “We know LA. They have good players, and they have players in front that can (make) the difference. But I think we controlled them almost all the game in a good way. Obviously, we didn’t have the best night tonight, but in the end, it’s the first leg. We have the next game next week, and we will see. I believe that we can do the right things to (get) through.”

The clubs meet again in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, April 9, for the second leg of the quarterfinal.

The aggregate winner advances to the semifinals to face MLS’ Vancouver Whitecaps or Liga MX’s Pumas, who played to a 1-1 draw in their first leg.

LAFC, which finished as the runner-up in this tournament in 2020 and 2023, ended its 0-4-1 skid over the previous 3 1/2 weeks with a strong performance on both ends against powerhouse Miami, which leads the MLS standings at 4-0-1.

“I think we saw a complete performance, a good one from the guys,” Cherundolo said. “They invested a lot. We need to be a little sharper, a little more focused in the final third with our chances against good teams, and Miami is certainly a good team, maybe the best team.”

The 37-year-old Messi has been slowed in recent weeks by an adductor injury, forcing him to miss duties with the Argentine national team last month. But he returned to MLS play last Saturday with a goal as a substitute in Miami’s win over Philadelphia, and he was in the Herons’ starting lineup in Los Angeles.

Messi took two free kicks in dangerous areas in the first half, but he sailed his first over the bar and sent the second directly to Lloris.

He had a good chance in the 80th minute, but his quick turnaround shot above the penalty area was also too high. He fired another low shot at Lloris in the 86th minute, and the French keeper smothered it after a bobble.

Messi earned one last free kick off a foul on a dribble in second-half injury time, but also sailed it high.

“Sometimes (we) couldn’t find the spaces,” Mascherano said. “They did very well in defense also, so sometimes you have to accept. Maybe we had some (chances) in the second half. ... At the end, I think we were not clear in attack, but the players tried until the end in many ways.”

The 21-year-old Ordaz put LAFC ahead when he eluded Busquets and hammered a swift shot into the bottom corner of the Herons' net from well outside the penalty area. The promising homegrown player and Los Angeles native also scored against Columbus in a Champions Cup match last month.

Ordaz had narrowly avoided a red card in the first half when he became entangled with Maxi Falcón. The Uruguayan defender went down from what Miami felt was a punch by Ordaz, who was given only a yellow upon video review.

“There’s contact, (and) there’s contact prior to that from the opposing player,” Cherundolo said. “I applaud the decision not to send guys off the field, and I would say the same thing if it was the reverse, if it was a Miami player in question.”

The packed crowd included NBA stars Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, whose Golden State Warriors play the Lakers on Thursday night.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer

Los Angeles FC forward Denis Bouanga, left, and Inter Miami defender Gonzalo Luján battle for the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles FC midfielder Ryan Hollingshead, left, and Inter Miami midfielder Fafà Picault try to head the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Fans watch as Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi waits to make a free kick during the first half of an MLS soccer match against Los Angeles FC, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, right, stops the ball as Los Angeles FC midfielder Marco Delgado puts pressure on him during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, second from right, kicks the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer match against Los Angeles FC, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, below, and Los Angeles FC midfielder Ryan Hollingshead try to head the ball during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, right, kicks past Los Angeles FC forward Nathan Ordaz during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Microsoft has fired two employees who interrupted the company's 50th anniversary celebration to protest its work supplying artificial intelligence technology to the Israeli military, according to a group representing the workers.

Microsoft accused one of the workers in a termination letter Monday of misconduct "designed to gain notoriety and cause maximum disruption to this highly anticipated event.” Microsoft says the other worker had already announced her resignation, but on Monday it ordered her to leave five days early.

The protests began Friday when Microsoft software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad walked up toward a stage where an executive was announcing new product features and a long-term vision for Microsoft's AI ambitions.

“You claim that you care about using AI for good but Microsoft sells AI weapons to the Israeli military," Aboussad shouted at Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman. "Fifty-thousand people have died and Microsoft powers this genocide in our region.”

The protest forced Suleyman to pause his talk while it was being livestreamed from Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington. Among the participants at the 50th anniversary of Microsoft's founding were co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft said Suleyman calmly tried to de-escalate the situation. “Thank you for your protest, I hear you,” he said. Aboussad continued, shouting that Suleyman and “all of Microsoft” had blood on their hands. She also threw onto the stage a keffiyeh scarf, which has become a symbol of support for Palestinian people, before being escorted out of the event.

A second protester, Microsoft employee Vaniya Agrawal, interrupted a later part of the event.

Aboussad, based at Microsoft's Canadian headquarters in Toronto, was invited on Monday to a call with a human resources representative at which she was told she was being fired immediately, according to the advocacy group No Azure for Apartheid, which has protested the sale of Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform to Israel.

An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI had been used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during the recent wars in Gaza and Lebanon. The story also contained details of an errant Israeli airstrike in 2023 that struck a vehicle carrying members of a Lebanese family, killing three young girls and their grandmother.

In its termination letter, Microsoft told Aboussad she could have raised her concerns confidentially to a manager. Instead, it said she made “hostile, unprovoked, and highly inappropriate accusations” against Suleyman and the company and that her “conduct was so aggressive and disruptive that you had to be escorted out of the room by security.”

Agrawal had already given her two weeks notice and was preparing to leave the company on April 11, but on Monday a manager emailed that Microsoft "has decided to make your resignation immediately effective today.”

It was the most public but not the first protest over Microsoft's work with Israel. In February, five Microsoft employees were ejected from a meeting with CEO Satya Nadella for protesting the contracts.

“We provide many avenues for all voices to be heard,” said a statement from the company Friday. “Importantly, we ask that this be done in a way that does not cause a business disruption. If that happens, we ask participants to relocate. We are committed to ensuring our business practices uphold the highest standards.”

Microsoft had declined to say Friday whether it was taking further action, but Aboussad and Agrawal expected it was coming after both lost access to their work accounts shortly after the protest.

Dozens of Google workers were fired last year after internal protests over a contract it also has with the Israeli government. Employee sit-ins at Google offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California targeted a $1.2 billion deal known as Project Nimbus providing AI technology to the Israeli government.

The Google workers later filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in an attempt to get their jobs back.

CORRECTS DATE - A pro-Palestinian demonstrator, Ibtihal Aboussad, is escorted away by security as they interrupt Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman during a presentation of the company's AI assistant, Copilot, ahead of a 50th Anniversary presentation at Microsoft headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)