Chester – Subaru Park was bustling prior to kickoff. Parking lots were full, and both Inter Miami and Union fans were mingling in Union Yards and at Subaru Plaza. Even before the gates opened at 6 p.m., lines had already formed outside in anticipation of the match against Inter Miami.

Despite one of their strongest first-half performances this season, Philadelphia allowed three second-half goals from Inter Miami to draw 3–3 at home—marking the club’s second gut-wrenching, last-minute goal conceded in May.

“It’s definitely not an ideal result,” said Philadelphia Union midfielder Quinn Sullivan postgame. “Disappointed, frustrated. You know, when you’re winning the whole game and now you drop points at home, similar to what we did in Columbus. That’s really frustrating. Team knows that. Everyone feels the same way.”

Bradley Carnell’s starting eleven against Inter Miami had Andrew Rick back in net for the sixth time in MLS play. Nathan Harriel returned to the starting lineup at right back, with Westfield beginning the match on the bench. The rest of the backline and midfield remained consistent with what Carnell has deployed this season. Meanwhile, Uhre and Baribo got the start up top for Philadelphia, who looked to pressure an Inter Miami defense that had conceded 15 goals in MLS regular-season matches.

The Union earned two corner kicks within the first three minutes, creating pressure as the River End supporters chanted loudly in support. The fans were rewarded in the 7th minute when, off a short corner, Kai Wagner found Quinn Sullivan, who beat Inter Miami keeper Oscar Ustari to make it 1–0 Philadelphia. Carnell’s squad got off to a hot start early in Chester.

Inter Miami slowed the tempo after the opening goal and began pushing for an equalizer. However, after strong defensive stops by Nate Harriel and Olewethu Makhanya—and two key blocks from Makhanya and Jakob Glesnes on Lionel Messi—Philadelphia weathered the storm through the first 30 minutes. Andrew Rick made a highlight save soon after when Messi fired a shot from well outside the box, forcing Rick to dive to his left for a terrific stop.

Miami’s first substitution saw Federico Redondo replace Yannick Bright, who went down with an injury. On the ensuing corner kick, Harriel’s header was tipped over the bar by Ustari. Philadelphia continued pressing for a second goal. Ustari made two key saves—one each on Sullivan and Danley Jean Jacques—but he couldn’t keep the Union out of the net for long.

In the 44th minute, Indiana Vassilev headed a ball into Miami’s box. Mikael Uhre beat his defender to win the ball and flicked it to a wide-open Tai Baribo, who buried it into the back of the net. The Union entered halftime up 2–0 in what was a statement first half. Uhre’s assist was the 20th of his MLS career, tying him with Quinn Sullivan and Ilsinho for eighth-most in club history.

Inter Miami came out methodically in the second half, pushing for their first goal with a few early chances. The Union initially held strong, but in the 60th minute, Tadeo Allende beat Makhanya to head in a cross from Noah Allen, cutting the Union lead to 2–1.

After that goal, the Union appeared to tighten up. Moments later, Inter Miami believed they had equalized when Messi beat both Makhanya and Rick, but the goal was ruled offside. The Union responded quickly, and on a counterattack in the 72nd minute, Baribo scored again, putting Philadelphia up 3–1. Indiana Vassilev was then subbed off for Bruno Damiani.

With the brace, forward Tai Baribo became the fourth player in league history to score at least 13 goals in his first 15 games of a season, joining Carlos Vela (15 in 2019), Chicho Arango (13 in 2024), and Josef Martínez (13 in 2018). He also became the first player in Union history to record four multi-goal games in a season. Baribo has now reached 29 goals across all competitions with Philadelphia, eighth-most in club history.

In the 86th minute, Glesnes fouled Messi just outside the box. The Argentine legend stepped up and drilled the free kick past Andrew Rick, narrowing the score to 3–2 and raising tensions at Subaru Park as five minutes of stoppage time were announced.

Unfortunately for the Union, they couldn’t hold on. In the 95th minute, Messi found Telasco Segovia open, and the midfielder beat Rick to stun both fans and Union staff. For the second time in May, Philadelphia conceded late and dropped points at home, with Inter Miami scoring three second-half goals to earn a 3–3 draw.

As strong as the first half was for Philadelphia, the second half was a collapse. First Columbus, now Inter Miami—Philadelphia has dropped four points at home this month in the final minutes. While a draw against Inter Miami might have seemed acceptable before kickoff, the manner in which it unfolded left a bitter taste.

Carnell shared a similar sentiment about the result:

“We allow an opponent who’s on paper, you know, has the world-class quality at certain points to get back in the game. So, you know, it’s a game where, if we take our chances, I think the scoreline is even bigger in our favor than the 3–1 would have indicated. And then they get two chances late, take two of theirs. We get two chances late. We don’t take two of ours. And unfortunately, the game ends 3–3. Because you never can quite shut them down for ninety minutes. So we will look at games against Columbus and Miami, and we think back and say, hey, this is a great draw. No, we’ve set standards for ourselves, and these feel disappointing. And I’m proud of the group that we get to this moment, that we’re disappointed at this result. So it’s good experiences for us, and we need to learn how to close out games, and this is part of our process with a young group that we have.”

There’s still a silver lining: Philadelphia has 30 points through 15 matches—beating the club’s previous best start of 28 points in 15 matches back in 2020. Tai Baribo has 13 goals in 14 matches, and the Union remain on top of the MLS Eastern Conference (pending results from Atlanta United and FC Cincinnati). While they’ve slipped to second in the Supporters’ Shield race after Vancouver’s win over Real Salt Lake, the Union are firmly in the thick of things, with the season not yet halfway over.

Philadelphia will now go on the road to finish out May, first visiting Toronto on Wednesday before heading to Texas for a matchup with FC Dallas on Saturday. If they can pick up points in both, they’ll be right back on track.

Quinn Sullivan knows this squad has the ability to close out games and is confident the group will improve:

“We’ve done it in games, and it’s just, you know, the consistency of it is the necessity and the standard that we need to hold ourselves to. And I know we hold ourselves to that standard. And you know, we’ll work to get better, and we’ll watch the film and see different ways for us to improve in the final moments of games. But yeah, we’ve done it. You’ve seen us do it. This is why we’re at the top of the table. But still, you know, we have to, we have to get do more consistent.”

No better place to start than this coming Wednesday against Toronto FC.

Main Article Photo Courtesy of The Philadelphia Union