Union blow lead and lose 2-1 to Inter Miami despite two-man advantage in last 16 minutes

It was the fourth straight game where the Union dropped points, and the seventh straight at home where they’ve done so.

Kai Wagner (center) and the Union now have a four-game winless streak, and a seven-game winless streak at home.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published June 15, 2024, 10:03 p.m. ET

Despite playing the last 29 minutes up a man and the last 16 minutes up two, the Union blew an early lead and lost, 2-1, to Inter Miami on Saturday at Subaru Park.

Mikael Uhre opened the scoring for the Union (4-5-8, 20 points) in just the third minute, Julian Gressel tied the game in the 47th, and late substitute Leo Alfonso won it for the Herons (11-3-5, 38 points) in the 94th minute, well after both red cards.

It was the fourth straight game where the Union dropped points, and the seventh straight at home where they’ve done so. The Union haven’t won since May 18, and haven’t won at home since March 30.

Rafanello fills in for Gazdag

It was the Union’s first night without Dániel Gazdag since his departure to the European Championship and without Julián Carranza since his removal from the lineup ahead of a move to the Dutch club, Feyenoord.

Jeremy Rafanello got the nod to start at Gazdag’s attacking midfield spot, Quinn Sullivan started at forward alongside Mikael Uhre, and Nathan Harriel filled in at left centerback for the suspended Jack Elliott.

Though Sullivan has started at forward many times by now, he’s been much less effective there than as a midfielder. Rafanello sprung him with a pretty through ball for a breakaway in the 12th minute, but Sullivan could only shoot wide once Miami centerback Tomas Avilés came to close him down.

Sullivan got open again in the 37th after Miami’s David Ruiz redirected a Rafanello cross back to him, but he shot right into Marcelo Wiegandt’s back.

As for Gazdag and Hungary? He didn’t play in the Magyars’ Euros opener on Saturday, a 3-1 loss to Switzerland. It wasn’t too surprising that he didn’t play, but the loss was definitely a bad way to start the tournament. Hungary’s next game is against tournament host Germany on Wednesday (noon, FS1, ViX), and Germany is coming off a 5-1 blowout of Scotland.

Uhre opens the scoring

It was symbolic that the Union’s most expensive striker opened the scoring, and it was a pretty finish. Jakob Glesnes advanced up the field and threaded a through ball between four Miami players that Uhre raced on to, broke away with, and shot calmly past goalkeeper Drake Callender.

It was Uhre’s seventh goal of the year for the Union and his 31st all-time. If the Union are to make any kind of deep run this year, especially if they don’t sign a major replacement for Carranza, Uhre will have to carry the load. He has plenty of critics, but this was a moment for them to quiet down.

The Sons of Ben supporters’ club had an even better idea: a “Where is Messi” at the thousands of fans who showed up wearing bright pink and black Messi Miami jerseys. The word had been out that he wasn’t coming, but they bought up loads of tickets on the secondary market anyway.

Ugly equalizer

The Union’s defense started to look shaky toward the end of the first half and remained shaky at the start of the second. Miami capitalized with a goal that was very pretty if you were a Miami fan: Leo Campana to Jordi Alba to Benjamin Cremaschi, who spotted a wide-open Gressel near the penalty spot.

Gressel was that open because Glesnes and Kai Wagner were standing on the goal line after Oliver Semmle had come off it to try to close Gressel down. But Glesnes didn’t move an inch when Gressel shot, and the ball flew right past him into the net.

Six minutes later, Union manager Jim Curtin was forced into an earlier-than-planned substitution when Alejandro Bedoya came up hobbling. Jesús Bueno replaced him.

Ruiz sees red

Ruiz drew a yellow card in the 32nd minute for a foul on Sullivan, and another yellow in the 68th for a foul on Flach. That was the end of his night and the start of a priceless opportunity for the Union to seize control of the game.

Curtin already had lined up Chris Donovan, who entered in the 72nd for Rafanello. Sullivan moved back to the attacking midfield spot, and Donovan joined Uhre in a front-line pair of big men.

Now the question was whether Curtin would have the courage to bring in any further firepower. Markus Anderson and Tai Baribo were also on the sideline warming up, and promising attacking midfield prospect David Vazquez was on the first team’s bench for the first time.

Baribo got his chance in the 81st, though he surprisingly replaced Olivier Mbaizo. That sent the Union into a 3-4-3 formation, a rare sight but a clear sign the Union were pushing for a win.

Seconds later Cremaschi hit the crossbar. And moments after that, the Union had the ball and Baribo contorted himself to get a shot off while on the ground that Callender did well to stop.

11-on-9

Aviles joined Ruiz in taking an early departure by drawing back-to-back yellow cards in the 84th minute. Now, the Union had a two-man advantage — and it felt like surely they’d find a way to get a goal with that.

But they did not, despite the addition of eight additional minutes of stoppage time. Instead, Alfonso won it on a breakaway after entering the game in the 90th minute. Glesnes was at fault again: he was the only defender back against Alfonso, and Alfonso ran right past him without breaking a sweat.

It turned out that all those Messi fans in the building were Miami fans. They roared when Alfonso scored, and again at the final whistle.