Philadelphia Union holds onto early lead, ending in 3-3 draw against Miami

Chester, PA

May 24, 2025

Saturday’s game was an important one for both the Philadelphia Union and Inter Miami C.F. Both teams had something to prove and each side ended up leaving Subaru Park with one point from the 3-3 draw

Miami had suffered a spree of bad form in May. It lost to Orlando 0-3, drew 3-3 with San Jose and lost 4-1 to Minnesota. Another loss would have been bad for the star-studded team. The draw showed that Messi & Co. were not just aging stars and could return from a 2-score deficit in a short span of the second half against a top MLS team.

Historically, Philadelphia has not done well against Miami (4-6-2 including the pre-Messi years). Indeed, Philadelphia had not beaten Miami since 2023. Atop the MLS East table, Philadelphia needed to show dominance over the class of the league. While there were mistakes, Philadelphia did show that it could control the game against Messi and Miami.

Philadelphia came out quickly to score in the first half. In the 7th minute, Kai Wagner passed short from a corner to Quinn Sullivan. Sullivan was unguarded for his long shot from the left side of the box to the right top of the goal. The score was 1-0 in Philadelphia’s favor.

The Union scored again at the 44th minute when Indiana Vassilev lifted the ball into space in the box. Mikael Uhre was able to get the ball to Tai Baribo, who gathered the ball and scored. The first half ended with the Union ahead 2-0.

The momentum shifted somewhat in the second half. Miami’s Noah Allen crossed right to Tadeo Allende, who was covered on both sides by Philadelphia’s Kai Wagner and Olwethu Makhanya. The ball landed perfectly between Wagner and Makhanya, and Allende jumped and headed the ball past the Philadelphia keeper Andrew Rick.

Philadelphia fans heaved a sign of relief when Baribo scored his second on the evening in the 72nd minute. Danley passed left to Baribo who, lying in wait, shot the ball left into the Miami goal.

Miami showed heart to level the score. Miami’s second goal occurred after Jakob Glesnes was shown yellow outside of the box in the 86th minute. Messi took the direct kick and pinpointed the shot into the left upper corner of Philadelphia’s goal. With Miami within earshot of a draw, in stoppage time, Telasco Segovia scored off of a short pass from Messi. The Union did have its second half chances for yet another score, and a possible PK, but they did not come to fruition. The game ended in a 3-3 draw.

Photographs of the game appear below:

Miami’s keeper, Oscar Utari, watching as Quinn Sullivan’s shot blew past him for the first score of the game.

Miami’s Jordi Alba with Nathan Harriel following behind. Tai Baribo celebrating his first score of the evening. Sullivan pleading his case after a tangle with Luis Suarez. Sullivan easily playing past Messi.