Luis Suarez recorded a hat trick and German Berterame scored a brace to lead host Inter Miami to a wild and record-setting 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Union on Sunday night.
Suarez’s third goal in the 81st minute proved to be the game-winner for Inter Miami (9-2-4, 31 points), who won their fourth consecutive match heading into the two-month FIFA World Cup break. Rodrigo De Paul — on his 32nd birthday — added Miami’s sixth goal off an assist from Mateo Silvetti in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
The Union (1-10-4, 7 points) are winless in their past eight matches (0-4-4) and lost for the third time in their past four.
Tempering Miami’s excitement over the victory was a potential concern for superstar Lionel Messi, who exited the game in the 73rd minute. Messi, who grabbed his left thigh, was not running much for nearly a minute before being subbed out for Silvetti. Messi walked off the field and directly into the locker room.
Suarez’s first two goals came during a first half in which the teams dueled to a 4-4 tie, which set a Major League Soccer record for most combined goals in a first half. The eight combined goals tied for the most in any half.
The 10 combined goals were also the second-most ever scored in an MLS match.
It was also the second game in MLS history with two hat tricks, as Philadelphia’s Milan Iloski also scored three goals in the first half. Two of those scores came on penalty kicks.
The Union took an early 2-0 lead on Iloski’s first two goals, and later a 3-1 lead on a goal by Bruno Damiani after Berterame cut Miami’s deficit to one.
Inter Miami answered with two goals in a span of three minutes from Berterame, off an assist from Messi, and Suarez off an assist from Ian Fray.
–Field Level Media
