Union blow late lead, draw Inter Miami 3-3

The Philadelphia Union squandered a lead late against Inter Miami CF at home Saturday night, failing to secure a win in a match ending in a 3-3 draw against Lionel Messi and company.

The draw extends a three game winless streak to four against Miami despite a brace from Tai Baribo and a beautiful goal from Quinn Sullivan.

Philadelphia exerted their control early and often in the first half. They needed only seven minutes to find the back of the net thanks to Sullivan and a perfectly placed shot off a designed short corner kick set piece. Sullivan flashed short to take the pass from Kai Wagner. He then quickly turned and ripped a curling shot into the top corner on the far post to beat Miami keeper Oscar Ustari.

The jam packed home crowd rallied behind the early goal and vocalized their support several times throughout the first half as the Union backline kept the Miami attack at bay. Center backs Jakob Glesnes and Olwethu Makanhya displayed a tight partnership all match long, most importantly early on by containing Messi. Messi had just two touches in the first portion of the match.

Later in the first half, Philadelphia upped the pressure on Messi and company thanks to a wholesome team effort creating a goal scoring chance for forward Baribo.

In the final third, Nathan Harriel found Jovan Lukic with plenty of space on a short pass. Lukic then picked his head up and strided forward toward the box. He played a diagonal ball out wide to the left for Indy Vassilev. Vassilev headed the ball back to the front of goal where Mikael Uhre hustled to beat his man and flicked it to Baribo for the finish. The home faithful erupted as the pressure ratcheted up on Miami to close the half.

However, following the stellar first half performance, Philadelphia stumbled 15 minutes into the second half.

The defense sagged and allowed a rather easy goal in the 60th minute of play. Miami midfielder Tadeo Allende found the back of the net thanks to a free header inside the box off a cross from Noah Allen. Jordi Alba helped create the crossing attempt to earn a secondary assist on the goal.

The Miami goal caused some angst to build within the crowd at Subaru Park. But the Philadelphia defense remained strong, thanks in large part to the center back partnership of Makhanya and Glesnes. Makhanya in particular did not back down against one of the best soccer players on earth in Messi, stripping the Argentinian legend of the ball multiple times in the defensive end.

Union Head Coach Bradley Carnell decided to make a defensive minded swap in the 63rd minute to help baton down the hatches. Jesus Bueno spelled Uhre in an attempt to bolster their defensive efforts in the final third. Baribo roamed alone up top following a minor formation change.

The Union midfield duo of Danley and Lukic amped up their impact, helping to manage the match and carry the ball from one end to the other.

However, they escaped a truly dire situation in the 71st minute after being beaten on a counter attack. A Miami goal was waived off due to offside and the Union avoided agony.

Moments later, Baribo delivered the dagger with yet another two-goal game in the 73rd minute. It was an effort goal, thanks mainly to Danley ripping the ball toward goal causing a deflection which pushed the ball into Baribo’s path for the goal, increasing the lead to 3-1. The goal re-established the two goal cushion and Baribo increased his goal tally to 13 on the year to extend his lead in the MLS Golden Boot race.

But not all was said and done following Baribo’s second goal. Messi decided to grab a highlight reel of his own after a perfect free kick goal in the 87th minute. He drew the foul atop the center of the box and buried the free kick chance leaving Rick with little to no chance at the save. The goal was Messi’s seventh of the year. The lead shrank to 3-2.

Then as they did against the Columbus Crew at home two weeks ago the Union conceded another stoppage time equalizer. Seconds after Lukic hit the crossbar on a clear chance to extend the lead to 4-2, Miami found their third goal of the night.

Segovia found the back of the net with a right footed shot from inside the box set up by Messi. The crowd fell silent in disbelief and the elation that was destined to occur after the final whistle evaporated quickly. Philadelphia blew the lead late, allowing two goals in less than 10 minutes and the match ended 3-3.

It will be interesting to see how the late let down impacts Philadelphia’s run of play as of late. They’ve managed the busiest stretch of the year with great success dating back to a 1-0 loss against NYCFC in April. They’ve avoided a loss in nine straight matches across all competitions and find themselves in the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup next month. But this late deflating draw will surely take some wind out of their sails.

The Union will travel north of the border to Toronto on Wednesday before a trip down south to Dallas next weekend to round out the busiest month of the campaign.