Neil Pierre continued his brilliant run of form with a second-half equalizer for the Philadelphia Union, who played visiting Inter Miami to an entertaining yet tense 2-2 draw in Chester, Pa., on Wednesday night that saw both teams finish with 10 men.
The Union (5-10-5, 20 points) saw their four-match winning streak come to an end, but remained unbeaten in five matches (4-0-1) since returning from Major League Soccer’s World Cup break.
Miami (11-3-6, 39 points) is now winless in its last two regular-season matches. It is also 0-3-1 in its last four matches across all competitions.
Facing a 2-1 deficit, the Union found themselves on level terms in the 58th minute through Pierre’s third goal in five matches. The 18-year-old centerback headed Milan Iloski’s free kick from the left side of the box past Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair to make it 2-2 with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Philadelphia appeared to take a 3-2 lead in the 61st minute. After Pierre’s initial header of Frankie Westfield’s free kick was stopped by St. Clair, Iloski was there to put the rebound home. But VAR found that Pierre was in an offside position.
The Union had another opportunity to pull ahead in the 71st minute as Iloski broke in on goal on a Cavan Sullivan pass, but St. Clair made a point-blank save before Sergio Reguilon blocked Bruno Damiani’s attempt on the rebound.
Indiana Vassilev opened the scoring for the Union in the 11th minute with his third goal of the season. Daniel Pinter’s first MLS goal (21st minute) and Lionel Messi’s team-high 13th goal of the season (26th minute) gave Miami the lead until Pierre’s match-tying goal in the second half.
Tempers flared deep into second-half stoppage time, as Philadelphia’s Sullivan and Miami’s Yannick Bright were each shown red cards after a brief scuffle.
The Union held a healthy edge in shots on goal, placing eight on frame to Miami’s three. St. Clair finished with five saves while Blake made one stop.
Sullivan was credited with an assist on Vassilev’s goal, extending his team high to seven.
–Field Level Media
