Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami live score, updates, highlights as Lionel Messi scores golazo in Leagues Cup

By | August 15, 2023
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Plainly put, Lionel Messi faces his toughest test yet as an Inter Miami player as his side travel to the Philadelphia Union for the semifinals of the 2023 Leagues Cup on Tuesday.

While Miami have seemed rejuvenated since the arrival of Messi and his former Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, they have yet to face a team of Philly’s calibre.

Messi has an incredible eight goals in five games so far with Inter Miami, leading the Eastern Conference’s last-placed team to the competition’s final four, but their wins have come against the last-placed Liga MX team, plus MLS sides currently sitting fifth, seventh, eighth, and 12th in their conference.

Now, against the Eastern Conference’s third-placed side – and one that has been near the top of the table for the past five seasons — this match proves a solid litmus test for Messi’s new club. Can they seriously challenge the best the league has to offer, or have they simply cruised past the rabble to this point?

MORE: Lionel Messi has taken to celebrating his Inter Miami goals like Marvel characters

The Sporting News is following the Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.

Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami live score

  Score (1H) Goal scorers
Philadelphia 0 —
Inter Miami 2 J. Martinez (4′),
Messi (20′)

Starting lineups:

Philadelphia (3-5-2, right to left): 18. Blake (GK) — 5. Glesnes, 3. Elliott, 17. Lowe — 26. Harriel, 20. Bueno, 8. J. Martinez, 31. Flach, 27. Wagner — 25. Donovan, 10. Gazdag.

Inter Miami (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 2. Yedlin, 27. Kryvtsov, 31. Miller, 18. Alba — 3. Arroyo, 5. Busquets, 30. Cremaschi — 10. Messi, 17. J. Martinez, 16. Taylor.

Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami live updates, highlights, commentary

Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami: First Half

20th min: GOAL! INTER MIAMI! LIONEL MESSI BANGER. OH MY GOODNESS. WHAT A GOAL, IT’S SIMPLY SENSATIONAL!

Messi picks up the ball in midfield, shakes off a bad Union challenge as he drives forward, and then crashes the ball into the back of the net with a thunderous rip from at least 30 yards out. YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS, LEO!

18th min: Lionel Messi is sandwiched by two players in midfield and wins a foul. Again, the referee correctly blows the whistle and Subaru Park doesn’t like it. It’s a foul guys! Let the referee do his job!

Moments later, Daniel Gazdag has another go on goal, this one a bit more speculatively from outside the top of the penalty area. He’s trying to bend it far post, but puts it wide. Philadelphia creating chances…

14th min: Throughout this Leagues Cup, Inter Miami have not been clean at the back, but so far nobody’s been able to really make them pay except FC Dallas. They give it away in the defensive third here, sloppily trying to play out of the back, but Philadelphia immediately cough it back up. They’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities better.

10th min: Sergio Busquets is clattered by Kai Wagner and goes to ground to draw the whistle, and the Philadelphia wing-back isn’t happy about it. Philadelphia players surround the referee, and the Subaru Park crowd boos. But like…c’mon guys, it was a clear foul.

8th min: Chance, Philadelphia! The Union nearly respond, as Drake Callender is forced into a good save! Daniel Gazdag makes a deep run out of midfield and Kai Wagner picks him out brilliantly from the left flank. Through on goal, he rips a shot but Callender had closed him down and makes the save centrally. A huge chance!

4th min: GOAL! INTER MIAMI! That didn’t take long! It’s a truly terrible goal for Philadelphia to concede, and Inter Miami pounce on an early mistake! That came from nothing more than a speculative ball forward to Josef Martinez by defender Serhiy Kryvtso, and he beats trailing defender Jack Elliott one-on-one to the ball. His one-time shot beats Andre Blake, and the visitors are up in Philly!

Inter Miami have scored in the opening 12 minutes of every single game since Lionel Messi has joined. The streak continues!

Kickoff: The first semifinal of the Leagues Cup is under way! The winner of this match will take on either Monterrey or Nashville SC, and will secure a spot in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League. The loser will still have a shot at a place in the North American continental competition, but they must win the third-place match to do so.

Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami: Pre-match commentary, analysis, stats, and more

5 mins to kick: There were questions about tonight’s crowd in Philadelphia, and the reception Lionel Messi would get, given ticket prices and how Messi-friendly the last road crowd in Dallas was. Well…your answer is…Subaru Park is just like any game! Messi got a typical Philly welcome for warmups. There’s a reason the Union have lost just one of their last 38 home games across all competitions. This is a tough place to play!

Official kickoff of tonight’s match comes at 7:09 p.m. ET.

10 mins to kick: If this match is close down the stretch, keep an eye on new Inter Miami signing, 20-year-old Facundo Farias. He joined two weeks ago from Argentine side CA Colon, and scouts are very high on him, comparing him to Carlos Tevez. He could make his Inter Miami debut off the bench in this match.

A pretty cool touch is Farias got his locker tonight next to his countrymate, Lionel Messi.

20 mins to kick: Injuries have affected today’s Philadelphia Union lineup in the attack. Julian Carranza is on the bench after tweaking his hamstring, and while Daniel Gazdag starts, he has his knee wrapped and the Apple TV broadcast has remarked that he doesn’t look 100 percent fit during warmups.

Jim Curtin has already tabbed Gazdag with a big role today, slowing down Sergio Busquets in midfield while also providing service up front.

30 mins to kick: Finally, mercifully, we have lineups for this game. Sure enough, Lionel Messi starts, and takes the field for warmups. Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba also in the XI.

For Philadelphia, Chris Donovan is handed a start up front after scoring the late winner in the previous round, with Julian Carranza on the bench not fully fit. Also on the bench is Alejandro Bedoya, looking to make his first appearance since May. Interestingly, Jack McGlynn doesn’t start, instead replaced by Leon Flach.

40 mins to kick: Philadelphia Union head coach chatted with the Apple TV broadcast prior to tonight’s game, and in typical Jim Curtin fashion, he was forthcoming with how he intends to lock down the GOAT, Lionel Messi, as well as Sergio Busquets, who has also been excellent since joining.

Still waiting on lineups. They have often been late with these throughout the Leagues Cup, but this is a significant wait even compared to recent matches.

1 hour to kick: We’re still waiting for lineups, which have been notoriously late in every Inter Miami match since Lionel Messi joined, but he has arrived alongside his former Barcelona buddies for tonight’s match, another indication that things are going according to plan for him with regards to his fitness.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: Yesterday, there was a brief fear that Lionel Messi was potentially injured in training, as he was caught on camera tripping (video below), then limping briefly, before ending the session earlier than his teammates.

Head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino downplayed the issue in his pre-match press conference, saying, “I didn’t see exactly what happened, but if it was something serious, I’m sure everyone would have been shocked. Since everyone was fine, I imagine nothing happened.”

That’s not exactly convincing, but it’s also not wrong. The video makes it look pretty innocuous, and there’s been little word of any injury issue since, it’s likely that Messi will take the field tonight without any problems. We’ll know for sure in about 15 minutes or so.

1 hour 30 mins to kick: The MLS Twitter account managed to grab a shot of Subaru Park before the weather rolled in, but right now it’s nasty in Philadelphia with thunderstorms dumping buckets of rain on the metro area. The weather is expected to clear by the time the match rolls around, but it’s worth watching both for delay purposes as well as pitch condition.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: Word went around Ft. Lauderdale after yesterday’s Inter Miami training that Lionel Messi did not complete the session. Head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino tried to allay fears of any potential injury, but given Messi’s stature, that’s going to be a tough ask.

At some point, Martino will be tasked with balancing Inter Miami’s limited time to course-correct their season and managing the load of his new stars who are not getting any younger. A tough call to make, is it possible we see the first signs of that today?

2 hours to kickoff: Clubs across MLS are facing a difficult task with regards to ticketing when Lionel Messi comes to town, especially in the Leagues Cup, who apparently takes a massive portion of the ticket sales revenue from each match.

FC Dallas supporters saw ticket cost vastly increase for their game against Inter Miami, leaping from an average of $45 to an exorbitant $864, selling out the match 10 minutes after tickets were released. The result was many FC Dallas fans being unable to attend, and the ensuing crowd was a pro-Messi group that helped Inter Miami rally to level the match late in come-from-behind fashion.

Philadelphia has tried to alleviate that burden somewhat for season ticket holders, but still the increase in average cost from regular matches to this one remains stark, and Subaru Park might see another unusually pro-Inter Miami crowd for the game.

Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami lineups, team news

Jim Curtin has stuck with his three-CB system for this match despite the danger of Lionel Messi looming. Injuries have played a role in his team selection.

Up front, Daniel Gazdag missed the quarterfinal win over Queretaro with a knee sprain, but Curtin hinted Gazdag would be available, and he indeed starts. More concerning is the status of former Inter Miami striker Julian Carranza, who “felt something” in his hamstring and only makes the bench. He’s replaced by Chris Donovan, whose late winner in the quarterfinals has Philadelphia here today.

Surprisingly, Jack McGlynn does not appear in the Philadelphia midfield, instead replaced by Leon Flach. 36-year-old captain Alejandro Bedoya is on the bench after returning to training after a quad strain, out since May.

Philadelphia Union starting lineup (3-5-2): Blake (GK) — Glesnes, Elliott, Lowe — Harriel, Bueno, J. Martinez, Flach, Wagner — Donovan, Gazdag.

Philadelphia Union subs (12): Bednik (GK), Trent, Makhanya, Mbazio, Real, McGlynn, Bedoya, Sullivan, Torres, Rafanello, Carranza, Uhre.

Inter Miami’s new superstar triumvirate Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba have all been fully integrated, and will only be sat from here on out for load management purposes.

Manager Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino has, however, been eyeing one position for constant evaluation, being the striker spot. Josef Martinez hasn’t been overwhelmingly impressive, and while Leonardo Campana assisted Messi’s 86th minute goal last time out, Tata has stuck with Martinez for now.

The only injury absentees for Inter Miami are long-term absentees Gregore, Jean Mota, Corentin Jean, Franco Negri, and Ian Fray. Gregore could possibly return from his foot injury soon, but he will need to be built up to full match fitness.

Inter Miami starting lineup (4-3-3): Callender (GK) — Yedlin, Kryvtsov, Miller, Alba — Arroyo, Busquets, Cremaschi — Messi, J. Martinez, Taylor.

Inter Miami subs (12): Jensen (GK), Dos Santos (GK), Sailor, Allen, H. Neville, McVey, Ulloa, D. Gomez, D. Ruiz, R. Robinson, Campana, Farias.

How to watch Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami live stream

The match from Subaru Park will kick off at 7 p.m. local time in Philadelphia in front of what is expected to be yet another sold-out crowd to watch Lionel Messi in action.

The match will be available around the world via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Philadelphia Union vs Inter Miami betting odds

Inter Miami are the favorites in this match once again, as they have been since Lionel Messi joined, but the margin is thinner here than it has been to date.

The Philadelphia Union, as an established MLS power at home, are given a clear chance to hand Messi and company their first defeat since the Argentine star joined the club. Goals are expected, as the total is pushed to 3.5 given Messi’s influence on the side — Inter Miami have scored 17 goals in Messi’s five matches since joining.

  Union win
(90 mins)		 Draw
(90 mins)		 Miami win
(90 mins)		 Both teams
to score Y / N		 Over / Under
3.5 goals		 PHI
advance		 MIA
advance
BetMGM
(USA)		 +185 +270 +115 -210 / +145 +125 / -175 +105 -150
Sports
Interaction
(Canada)		 +181 +251 +109 — +123 / -169 — —
Dafabet
(India)		 2.95 3.70 2.19 1.48 / 2.60 — — —

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