Philadelphia Union prove they're legit in Inter Miami defeat | OneFootball

The Philadelphia Union left South Florida on Saturday night disappointed that they weren't able to take any points from their trip to face Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in a top-of-the-Eastern-Conference clash.

And they had every right to be disappointed. That's not something most of Miami's opponents this season could say.

While the Union left as 2-1 losers to Miami, they easily gave the Herons their most difficult test so far, and at home no less. That's something that should hearten manager Bradley Carnell, his players and his supporters who may be wondering whether they can still buy into the club's unexpectedly strong start following the exit of popular former manager JIm Curtin.

The game felt well in doubt from the moment Daniel Gazdag pulled back an 80th-minute tally to the moment referee Rosendo Mendoza blew the final whistle after more than 10 minutes of second-half stoppage time.

What the data says

And the data backs up that feeling: The Union's 1.7 expected goals, per Opta, were the most created against Miami this season, even despite the Herons playing two of their previous league games down a man for more than half the contest.

The Union also matched Miami in general in terms of chance quality, with each team creating five shots that had a goal probability of greater than 10%. Miami led 2-1 in big chances (those with an xG value above 30%), and only Miami converted a big chance, Robert Taylor's first-half opener from very close range.

Philadelphia also has the potential to become even more potent if offseason signing Bruno Damiani can hold down the starting role. He came on for the final 32 minutes against the Herons and was immediately more dangerous than Mikael Uhre. And while the Uruguayan has only one goal playing primarily as a substitute so far, he is averaging 0.97 xG per 90.

That rate would almost certainly decline somewhat in a starting role. But even if he can post an average roughly half of that, he'll be an upgrade as the secondary scoring option next to MLS Golden Bood race leader Tai Baribo.

This wasn't a good result for Philadelphia. But it was a good performance against a Miami team that, believe it or not, looks significantly improved from the group that set an MLS points record by earning 74 last year while winning the 2024 Supporters' Shield. And there's every reason to be bullish on what Bradley Carnell's project.