Pressure on Javier Mascherano and his men to perform after draw against East-leading Philadelphia
An 86th-minute free kick golazo from Lionel Messi helped spark a late comeback for Inter Miami as they earned a point on the road against the Philadelphia Union in a 3-3 draw Saturday night.
The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner stepped up with the trailing by two goals with four minutes to spare, drilling home a brilliant left-footed strike from the top of the box for his sixth goal of the MLS campaign. With a boost of momentum, the South Beach side, in the last minute of stoppage-time, found an equalizer on a goal by Telasco Segovia.
From the edge of the box, Segovia curled home an effort into the top corner of the net to make it 3-3 in the dying seconds of the match – completing the riveting comeback and earning Miami a point on the road.
With the result, though, Miami are still winless in seven of their last eight matches. It was a dominant performance from the Union all match long, but a bit of Messi magic went a long way to ensure Miami didn't leave empty handed.
Quinn Sullivan, U.S. men's national team call-up for the CONCACAF Gold Cup training camp, opened the scoring for Philly as the 20-year-old nailed a belter of a curling effort just seven minutes in off a short corner kick.
MLS Golden Boot leader Tai Baribo then doubled the Union's lead minutes before halftime, furthering their advantage ahead of the break. Miami earned a goal back in the 60th minute off a lovely header from winger Tadeo Allende – the beginning of their eventual comeback.
Baribo, however, responded with his second of the game to make it 3-1 with 16 minutes to spare, thinking he'd bagged the dagger that earned his club all three points. That was until Messi stepped up.
His brilliant free kick brought the South Beach club back into the mix as the final whistle neared. It wasn't a pretty game for the by any means. Their defense was exploited all match long, and Philly outshot them 18 to 10.
With just one win in their last eight across all competitions, though, a point might be viewed as successful for Miami.
GOAL rates Inter Miami's players from Subaru Park.
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Oscar Ustari (6/10):
A few nice reaction saves, but his struggles showed. Not much he could do on the opening two goals, and on the third, his defense let him down.
Noah Allen (5/10):
Appeared to miss his mark on Sullivan's goal for Philly's opener, but hard to pin it on him alone. Miami's best defender of the night, that mishap aside.
Tomas Aviles (4/10):
Surprisingly inserted into the XI for the first time in five weeks, and was outclassed all match. Caught out multiple times, he couldn't handle the pressure from the Union attack.
Gonzalo Lujan (4/10):
Slow and unaware all night long. On Miami's second goal, he was beat to the ball despite having two steps on the attacker – just a poor performance overall.
Ian Fray (5/10):
Didn't excel, but wasn't particularly poor, either. A fine performance, but against the Union, fine isn't good enough.
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Jordi Alba (5/10):
Played out of position further up the pitch, he brought nothing additional to the attack – which was the intention of the switch. Not his fault, as a defender.
Sergio Busquets (6/10):
Strong centrally, per usual – but with few creators surrounding him, he struggled to find outlets with which to pass to.
Yannick Bright (N/A):
Subbed off at 38 minutes in due to injury.
Tadeo Allende (6/10):
Really nice header, perfect run. However, he was poor in the final-third throughout the match – struggled in build up and transition, but came up big with his goal, sparking the eventual comeback.
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Lionel Messi (7/10):
Played frustrated all evening until that magical free kick. He was at his best for eight minutes of the game, and it earned them a point – would it have been three if he played like that longer?
Luis Suarez (3/10):
Invisible the entire game. A few pieces of hold-up play, but just completely ineffective otherwise.
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Federico Redondo (6/10):
Replaced Bright and held his own well for 60-plus minutes. Tucked in alongside Busquets, he had a rather solid second half.
Fafa Picault (N/A):
Brought on late to try and secure a result, but wasn't able to make a lasting impact.
Marcelo Weigandt (2/10):
Just so poor. Came into the game and committed multiple fouls and then found himself out of position on Philadelphia's third goal. Should be thankful Messi rescued him from his own cameo.
Telasco Segovia (9/10):
Scored a goal that was flagged for offsides, and then bagged the game-tying strike with a lovely finish. He did exactly what he was asked of, and you could not ask for more. Well done.
Javier Mascherano (3/10):
Got everything wrong from his XI to the tactics. Jordi Alba deployed higher up the pitch left his defense without a leader, while slowing down the counter-attack during regulation. Miami offered few ideas going forward or defensively. Eight minutes of Messi magic should not redeem how poor this club was set up throughout the match.
