A goal fest at Nu Stadium as Miami take the spoils

Inter Miami 6 – 4 Philadelphia Union

MIAMI, FL–Inter Miami came out on top after a ten goal thriller in front of their home fans that saw hat tricks for Luis Suarez and Milan Iloski.

It was a chaotic game, and it started early when Philadelphia stunned the home side with a goal inside five minutes. They compounded that a few minutes later with a second after Dayne St. Clair was guilty of conceding a penalty and Iloski made no mistake from the spot. And before the Herons could get into their stride, they were two goals behind.

Philadelphia Union is a side that had one win in their last eight games away from home, add to that a number of injuries, and on paper this looked like a comfortable game for Miami. But the Union had different ideas and had the home supporters in a state of disbelief inside the first ten minutes.

Miami fought back when German Berterame benefited from some good work by Rodrigo DePaul and Lional Messi to get a goal back.

Philadelphia often like to create chaos to unhinge the opposition, and they certainly did that here as Miami struggled to get into their preferred rhythm. And it paid off again when a quick break opened up the Miami defence and they had their third when Bruno Damiani poked in a parried shot, to once again silence the home fans.

It was an open game that was full of chances as both sides looked set on scoring more. Suarez provided the next one when he controlled a chip from Ian Fray on his chest and rifled it into the net to continue the madness. Then, they finally drew level when Messi and Suarez created the chance for Berterame to get his second. The entertainment didn’t stop for long. Moments later they took the lead for the first time when Suarez latched onto another flighted cross.

As half time approached, everyone started to think about having a breather, but Philadelphia weren’t done yet and another attack led to a handball by Sergio Reguilon and a second penalty. Iiloski completed his hattrick from the spot and gave his side parity as they went into the break after an exhilarating opening forty five minutes.

Entertaining for the neutral no doubt, but Miami should not be conceding four goals like that, and they will have to find a way to tighten up their defensive frailties. They did that in a second half that was considerably slower than the first, and the home side found some of their composure. But a huge downpour made conditions slippery and had the ball zipping about the pitch to add to the mayhem of the night.

Philadelphia still had something to say in this game and Cavan Sullivan was proving his quality as the sixteen year old was influential in midfield.

De Paul hit the crossbar as they searched for another goal to try and take the lead again. But chances weren’t as forthcoming as they were earlier in the game, and with Messi having been substituted it felt like the game might be heading for a draw.

But another fast counterattack had Berterame in front of goal whose shot was saved but he still managed to find Suarez for the veteran to get his hattrick. De Paul sealed the win in injury time after Silvetti broke forward and played the midfielder in to finish well and finally end this game as a contest.

As a spectacle there wasn’t much missing from this game, but ten goals in one match points to a lack of good defending, and that was definitely the case here.

While the Miami hierarchy spend time searching for a new coach, they might also want to focus on a leaky defence that has struggled to keep a clean sheet on any regular basis.

Photos by Edwin Gomez