What happens when you take the best team in MLS and add the greatest player in the history of the sport? Three points, that’s what you get.

The Philadelphia Union learned the hard way that making defensive mistakes and failing to punish those of the opposition will result in defeat, as Inter Miami downed the visiting Union 3-1 at Chase Stadium thanks to their Argentine superstar.

On his return from a three-month absence due to national team duty and injury, Lionel Messi’s first-half brace saw the Herons to victory at Chase Stadium, responding to Philadelphia’s first-minute goal to stun the Ft. Lauderdale faithful. Messi had been missing since suffering an ankle injury in the Copa America final, but returned to play the full 90 minutes tonight.

The win handed Inter Miami a sizable 10-point lead at the top of the Eastern Conference, but they are staring down a daunting midweek task. The victory came at a significant price, as they lost defenders Hector Martinez and Noah Allen to injuries, while Tomas Aviles and Sergio Busquets both triggered yellow card suspensions for the coming game against Atlanta United in four days.

The Union, meanwhile, must put aside their numerous defensive errors to continue the playoff hunt. They now sit three points outside the final postseason berth, needing a late comeback but holding a few games in hand with which to do so.

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

Inter Miami vs. Philadelphia Unionfinal score

Kickoff: 7:37 p.m. ET / 4:37 p.m. PT
Location: Chase Stadium (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Referee: Sergii Boiko

Starting lineups:

Inter Miami (3-4-3, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 6. Aviles, 5. Busquets, 14. H. Martinez (Allen, 15' — Fray, 90') — 57. Weigandt, 55. Redondo (D. Ruiz, 90'), 20. D. Gomez (Cremaschi, 81'), 15. Alba — 10. Messi, 9. Suarez, 24. Gressel (Bright, 81').

Philadelphia Union (4-4-2 diamond, right to left):76. Rick (GK) — 26. Harriel (Mbaizo, 88'), 5. Glesnes, 3. Elliott, 27. Wagner — 31. Flach (Jacques, 82') — 33. Q. Sullivan (Rafanello, 88'), 16. McGlynn (Bedoya, 63') — 10. Gazdag — 28. Baribo, 7. Uhre (Adeniran, 63').

Inter Miami vs. Philadelphia Union live updates, highlights from MLS match

FULLTIME: Inter Miami 2-1 Philadelphia Union

It was an entertaining match at Chase Stadium, but in the end Lionel Messi made the difference on his injury return. The Union scored very early, but wasted every chance from that point on. Both sides made numerous defensive mistakes, but one side was far more clinical than the other in capitalizing.

90+8 min: GOAL! INTER MIAMI! Lionel Messi sets up Luis Suarez for the deathblow, and the Herons have secured a three-point result at home! Messi just inside the top of the penalty area cuts laterally to his left and feeds Suarez unmarked outside the 18-yard box, and the Uruguayan fires it home! That'll wrap it up!

90+6 min: Uh oh, there's a VAR check for a possible red card to Philadelphia's Kai Wagner who steps straight on the leg of Marcelo Weigandt, but the Union left-back gets away with the incident, somewhat surprisingly. That seemed a very nasty one.

90+4 min: Sergio Busquets is booked for time wasting after taking ages to take a free-kick, and that means he will miss the next match after triggering a yellow-card suspension. Inter Miami players are dropping like flies with regards to the upcoming midweek game against Atlanta United.

90th min: Yet another defensive injury for Inter Miami as Noah Allen requires some concerning treatment after a collision with goalkeeper Drake Callender. It's a scary one as the medical staff works on the Herons defender while he lays flat on the pitch, possibly for a head injury.

Allen had come on for an injured Hector Martinez early on, and Tomas Aviles has triggered a yellow card suspension with a booking tonight. It's a real defensive headache for Tata Martino all of a sudden.

Four minutes of added time are shown, but it will likely go longer thanks to the treatment. David Ruiz enters to replace Federico Redondo, and Ian Fray is the man to replace an injured Allen.

87th min: Lionel Messi is shown a yellow card for time wasting after taking too long to restart play after a stoppage in the action. That's not something you see every day.

Jim Curtin uses his final two substitutions, with Mbaizo and Rafanello coming into the match, meaning we will not see Cavan Sullivan tonight on the pitch with Messi. That's a disappointment.

85th min: Chance, Philadelphia! Sergio Busquets is caught in possession in his own penalty area as he makes a mess of settling a back-pass, and Drake Callender has to come out to smother what would have otherwise been an embarrassing late equalizer to concede!

84th min: Philadelphia are in their final push for an equalizer, and there's a nervy moment for Inter Miami as Drake Callender spills an extremely long-distance shot, but the Herons' goalkeeper recovers to throw himself on top of the ball before a Union forward can pounce.

81st min: Inter Miami head coach Tata Martino makes midfield changes as Benjamin Cremaschi and Yannick Bright replace Diego Gomez and Julian Gressel. Jim Curtin responds by bringing on Danley Jean Jacques to the defensive midfield position for Leon Flach.

Gomez was feeling his hamstring just before coming off, which will be a concern for Tata Martino who's already lost Hector Martinez early in this match to a fitness issue.

76th min: Luis Suarez picks up a brainless yellow card after a tussle with Jakob Glesnes while trying to corral a long-ball. Suarez believes he's fouled and screams at the referee when no call comes, and instead the ref stops play to book the Inter Miami striker for vociferous dissent.

72nd min: A yellow card is shown to Quinn Sullivan for a clipping the ankle of Lionel Messi while falling over himself. Completely unintentional, but a bit reckless nonetheless.

67th min: Chance, Philadelphia! A whipped rocket of a shot from Samuel Adeniran, who has just come into the match for Mikael Uhre, cannons off the foot of Noah Allen seeing the ball popped and in need of replacement. On the ensuing corner, Adeniran rises high to get his head on the delivery around six yards from goal, but he sends the chance over the crossbar!

63rd min: Jim Curtin makes his first change of the match as captain Alejandro Bedoya enters to replace Jack McGlynn in midfield.

60th min: It's not quite as clear-cut as the last one, but Mikael Uhre again flubs a chance in front of goal as he heads a cross sky-high and over the crossbar. He couldn't get his body positioned properly to meet the flight of the ball, and instead gets underneath the delivery.

56th min: Jack Elliott drags Lionel Messi down to the ground at the top of the penalty area, and is booked for his efforts, meaning he will be suspended for the next match. It gives Messi and Inter Miami a dangerous free-kick in a prime shooting position just a yard atop the semi-circle at the peak of the penalty area.

Messi takes, and it looks a good one, but just clips the wall and deflects wide for a corner.

55th min: Chance, Philadelphia! Mikael Uhre should have brought Philadelphia level but does so poorly with the eventual effort on goal! He's threaded through brilliantly up the middle on a vertical run that unlocks the Inter Miami back line, but from a tight angle on the left misses the target completely. A big missed opportunity!

51st min: It's a very slow start to the second half as neither side has any desire to open themselves up in an effort to get forward.

2nd half kickoff: They're back under way in Ft. Lauderdale! The question for the final 45 minutes is not whether Lionel Messi will continue to dazzle, because we know the answer to that — emphatically YES — but instead can either team play competent defense? Whoever stands tallest (or, not smallest) will win this match, full stop.

HALFTIME: Inter Miami 2-1 Philadelphia Union

When I tell you the defending in this match has been calamitous, that would be an understatement. All three goals have come off moments of truly horrific defensive errors, either on the ball or in man-marking, and both sides each had an additional opportunity off defensive mistakes that went by the wayside.

Lionel Messi, the best player in the history of the game, will have an easy time pouncing on defensive lapses, and that's the case for the Union tonight, who are shell-shocked after going in front 60 seconds into the match. Only a goal down at halftime, it very well could have been much worse. 

45+8 min: Chance, Inter Miami! Luis Suarez nearly has a tap-in on the stroke of halftime, but he can't quite get the ball on target! A long ball is floated forward to Diego Gomez, and he delivers a wonderful one-touch cross along the face of goal, but El Pistolero is put off by a defender and can't get the final product!

45th min: Chance, Inter Miami! Luis Suarez scores a third for Inter Miami with a sensational finish! Lionel Messi goes from scorer to creator here feeding Suarez to his left at the top of the 18-yard box, and Suarez unleashes a curler into the back of the net!

BUT NO! There's a VAR check here to make sure Messi got back onside on the entry feed to him centrally, and the replay shows he didn't quite make it back, with his left heel still leaning over the defensive line. The Union have a lifeline!

43rd min: Chance, Inter Miami! WHAT A SAVE by 18-year-old Union goalkeeper Andrew Rick! Luis Suarez reconfigures his body expertly to put a right-footed shot on target from the penalty spot, but the young goalkeeper in as an injury replacement does ever so well to make a diving reflex stop!

42nd min: The Union have a big opportunity to get back on level terms but an extremely dangerous lateral cross from the right comes up empty as there's nobody there to tap it in on the goal mouth.

32nd min: Tomas Aviles is booked for a really bad tackle from behind, and he will be suspended next match for yellow card accumulation. He's only just come back from a red card suspension, and he'll have to sit another match out now for disciplinary issues.

30th min: GOAL! INTER MIAMI! LIONEL MESSI HAS HAULED INTER MIAMI BACK IN FRONT ON HIS RETURN! A brace for the Argentine legend, because what else did you expect?

It's all too easy for Inter Miami, with Messi starting the move centrally and filtering it out wide to Jordi Alba on the left. The former Barcelona man simply needs to send it back across laterally, and as Luis Suarez comes up empty stretching for the ball, it falls perfectly at the feet of Messi who slots it home. What an difference this man makes in a match!

DOBLETE DEL CAPITÁN 🐐 pic.twitter.com/ZwVv9tILU0

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) September 15, 2024

Inter Miami vs. Philadelphia Union kickoff time

This MLS regular season match kicks off from Chase Stadium on Saturday, Sep. 14 at 7:30 p.m. local time in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:

Inter Miami vs. Philadelphia Union lineups, team news, starting 11

Lionel Messi is fit to return for Inter Miami in this match, and he slots straight into the starting XI for Tata Martino.

Inter Miami are missing the likes of Nicolas Freire, Leo Afonso, and Facundo Farias to long-term injuries, while Matias Rojas is out for another few weeks with an ankle injury. Tomas Aviles will return from his red card suspension.

Inter Miami starting lineup (3-4-3):Callender (GK) — Aviles, Busquets, H. Martinez — Weigandt, Redondo, D. Gomez, Alba — Messi, Suarez, Gressel.

Inter Miami subs (9): Ustari (GK), Fray, Allen, Negri, Cremaschi, D. Ruiz, Bright, Taylor, Campana.

The September international break turned into a nightmare for the Philadelphia Union. Playmaking wizard Daniel Gazdag had to withdraw from international duty with Hungary due to a muscle injury, but he's ok to see the field here. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for star goalkeeper Andre Blake who picked up a groin problem with Jamaica and misses out. That's the Union's two most important players with recent fitness concerns.

Striker Tai Baribo didn't make it through warmups with the Israel national team against Italy, cropping up with a hamstring issue, but is fit to take part in this match. Jean Jacques wasn't so lucky, injuring his ankle while playing for Haiti and is likely to miss out.

Phildelphia Union starting lineup (4-4-2- diamond):Rick (GK) — Harriel, Glesnes, Elliott, Wagner — Bueno — Sullivan, McGlynn — Gazdag — Baribo, Uhre.

Philadelphia Union subs (9): Semmle (GK), Mbaizo, Danley, Bueno, Bedoya, Rafanello, C. Sullivan, Donovan, Adeniran.

Inter Miami vs. Philadelphia Unionlive stream, TV channel

• Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT
• TV channel: None
• Streaming: MLS Season Pass from Apple TV

The MLS match between Inter Miami and the Philadelphia Union will be available exclusively to MLS Season Pass subscribers on Apple TV.

With the home stretch in view, MLS Season Pass on Apple TVis now offering its lowest price of the season. Fans can sign up for a seasonal subscription to MLS Season Pass for just $9.99 to catch the remainder of the 2024 season, including the MLS Cup playoffs. Existing Apple TV+ subscribers can sign up for a seasonal subscription to MLS Season Pass for free for the remainder of the 2024 season and playoffs.