Inter Miami suffered its second straight defeat on a night to forget against Philadelphia Union on Sunday.
Gonzalo Higuain made his long-awaited debut for Inter but missed a penalty as Miami fell to a 3-0 defeat following goals from Anthony Fontana, Ilsinho and Brenden Aaronson.
Union started the better of the two teams with Luis Robles forced into an early save when Anthony Fontana fed Jamiro Monteiro inside the box after a clever run.
Inter gave as good as they got in the early exchanges, though and Higuain showed every bit of his worth when he attempted a bicycle kick just before the 20-minute mark. The post denied him a spectacular first Inter Miami goal.
But Union weren’t to be denied by the post or indeed anything else when Fontana put the home side in front after a lapse in concentration from Miami following a throw-in deep in its own half.
Fontana picked up the ball, drove with purpose into the box before smashing one into Robles’ net on the 24th minute.
Takin’ a 1 – 0 lead into the locker room. Tight match so far, and a tough 45′ comin’ up ?#DOOP | #PHIvMIA 1 – 0 pic.twitter.com/jFteRfFKQG
— PhilaUnion (@PhilaUnion) September 28, 2020
Diego Alonso threw Robbie Robinson on at the break in search of an equaliser but it was Ben Sweat who looked the most dangerous down the left-hand side, denied by a superb block and then again by a fine save from Andre Blake.
Miami pushed and pushed but in searching for the goal was caught out by a slick Union move, Brenden Aaronson sliding in a ball for Kacper Przybyłko who played a simple pass across the box for Ilsinho to tap in from close range.
GROUP HUG!
Ilsinho’s goal was our @NJMIns Insurance Goal of the Match, giving us a 2-0 cushion in our match tonight ? pic.twitter.com/NJqfrnchok
— PhilaUnion (@PhilaUnion) September 28, 2020
A strange incident followed. Inter thought they should have had a penalty for handball but it was waved away before Union broke and Kacper Przybyłko effort was cleared off the line.
But VAR called it back and Miami was indeed awarded a penalty 15 minutes from time.
Higuain stepped up on his debut but his attempt from the spot was wayward, the Argentine blasting it wide and missing an opportunity to get his new team back in the game.
And it would get worse for Miami. A dreadful error from Dylan Nealis saw him robbed of the ball by the livel Aaronson who marched on and found the bottom corner to make it 3-0, sealing back-to-back defeats for Inter.
Alonso’s men remain 13th in the Easter Conference, level on points with bottom club D.C. United, while Philadelphia moves into second, two points behind leaders Columbus Crew.
