Tai Baribo scored twice but Philadelphia Union had to share the points with a star-filled Inter Miami CF lineup at Subaru Park on Saturday night.
Playing in front of a sold out Subaru Park crowd, the Boys in Blue used that energy to jump out a quick lead on the foot of Quinn Sullivan. Kai Wagner set up the homegrown off a corner kick that the 21-year-old blasted into the back of the net and celebrated with the River End. Tai Baribo continued his scoring tear with his league-leading 12th goal of the season with a feisty finish right before the halftime break.
Inter Miami CF battled back, trimming the lead to 2-1 at the hour mark on a headed finish from Tadeo Allende set up by a Noah Allen cross. Momentum swung in an instant as the Florida side saw a game-tying goal waived offside that quickly led to Baribo's second of the evening with a one-touch finish inside the box in the 73rd minute. Inter Miami rallied back however with an 87th minute free kick finish from Lionell Messi that was followed up on a Telasco Segovia goal in stoppage time.
Philadelphia Union wraps up May with a two-game road trip that begins with a Wednesday night showdown with Toronto FC. Kick off from Canada is set for 7:30PM with coverage on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
How The Match Unfolded
With a star-studded Inter Miami in town, Carnell sent out a Starting XI he's used xx times before, featuring three changes to their last meeting back in March. Major League Soccer Golden Boot leader Tai Baribo was paired up top with Mikael Uhre up top, while Quinn Sullivan, Danley Jean Jacques, Indiana Vassilev, and Jovan Lukic made up the midfield. In the backline, Nathan Harriel returned to his natural right back position opposite Kai Wagner on the left, while Jakob Glesnes and Olwethu Makhanya were paired at centerback.
For a sixth straight match, 19-year-old Andrew Rick started in net, making his second-ever start against Inter Miami.
On the bench, Oliver Semmle was his backup, sitting alongside Olivier Mbaizo, Frankie Westfield, Alejandro Bedoya, Jesus Bueno, Jeremy Rafanello, Cavan Sullivan, Bruno Damiani, and Chris Donovan.
Pregame, Cooper DeJean gets the crowd going | Philadelphia Eagles cornerback and Super Bowl Champion Cooper DeJean carried out the club's beloved pregame ritual, striking the drum to energize the crowd before first kick.
1’, Early corners for Philly | The energy throughout Subaru Park was palpable from the first minute, and the Philadelphia Union capitalized on it, maintaining the majoriy of possesion through the first five minutes. They earned a pair of corners in that opening span, but neither unfolded in their favor.
7', Quinn Sullivan opens the scoring! | In the seventh minute, Philly found their third corner of the match and made it count -- on this take, Kai Wagner passed it short from the left, finding Quinn Sullivan alone in the top corner of the box. The 21-year-old Homegrown took one touch to settle the ball, then blasted it to the top opposite corner of the net, giving his team a 1-0 lead. In celebration, his team ran to the corner and hoisted Sullivan up onto the ad boards in front of the Sons of Ben in the riverend, who responded in an eruption of applause.
29', Makhanya blocks Messi | Just like he did in Florida in the pair's last meeting in March, Olwethu Makhanya found himself marking Messi, this time tracking down and blocking the Argentine superstar in an attempt to bury one past Andrew Rick.
33', Rick dives to keep it 1-0 | Messi tried again four minutes later, but this time, it was Rick who was the difference maker, diving to make the save.
40', Miami change | Yannick Bright went down in the Union's attacking end and Head Coach Javier Maschero was forced to make a change, replacing the 23-year-old Italian midfielder for 22-year-old Argentine Federico Redondo.
44', Baribo makes it 2-0! | Moments after successfully encouraging the crowd to get loud, Jovan Lukic helped spurred the second goal of the night, finding Indiana Vassilev in the box, who headed it directly in front of the net. He went down, but Uhre recovered his pass, tapping it toward Tai Baribo who scored his 11th goal of the season to double Philadelphia Union's advantage.
60', Miami goal | Inter Miami got one back 15 minutes into the second half when Noah Allen assisted Tadeo Allende for a header goal to the top of the of the net.
61', Miami subs | Mascherano made a pair of subs shortly after his team's goal, swapping Tomas Aviles for Marcelo Weigandt and Ian Fray for Telasco Segovia.
63', Union sub | Carnell took Uhre out of the match in the 63rd minute in exchange for some fresh legs, adding in Jesus Bueno, who had started their last two matches, to the mix. The change brought with it a change in formation with Baribo as the lone striker while Danley was fried up to join into the attack from the midfield.
71', Miami nearly gets one back | Miami found a close breakaway that almost leveled the match, but the effort was ruled offsides.
73', Baribo bags another brace | With the lead still in tact, the Union quickly regained momentum with another one touch finish from Baribo. Homegrown Nathan Harriel's long throw in forced a pair of half clearances that the Union nabbed out of the air with a volley shot from Bueno. The ball was blocked but Danley ripped a shross that found its way to the Israeli striker for his second goal of the night.
87', Messi magic | Trailing by two goals, the visitors earned a free kick just outside the Union box after yellow card foul from Jakob Glesnes. Lionel Messi lined up and snuck it inside the post as Rick dived but couldn't deny the Argentine his sixth goal of the MLS campaign to make it a 3-2 scoreline.
90+', Miami completes the comeback | With just a single goal seperating the two sides, the match ended with a playoff like atmosphere but it was the visitors that would nab the final goal to make it a draw. Telasco Segovia notched the game-tying finish, beating the Union defense in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
