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Inter Miami will look themselves in the mirror when they get back to their Philadelphia hotel rooms on Saturday night and ask themselves one question: "How in the world did we pull that off?"
With no Lionel Messi, no Luis Suarez and down to nine men due to a pair of untimely red cards, the Herons still escaped Subaru Park with a 2-1 win. It was an almost impossible result, but one that somehow happened. Somehow, some way, Inter Miami earned three points from a match that required a miracle to get just one, particularly without Messi and Suarez out of the team.
It can't be understated how big those losses are. They've combined for 24 goals, more than 12 entire MLS teams. Without those two, Miami are in survival mode until their return, and they did more than survive on Saturday.
Despite conceding an early goal to Mikael Uhre, the Herons fought back with a goal of their own from Julian Gressel. It was a big finish from the MLS veteran, who took advantage of some Jordi Alba magic and a Benjamin Cremaschi assist to level the score.
Miami had the better chances to score as the game wore on, but they seemingly threw away their hopes of stealing a win. A pair of red cards to David Ruiz and Tomas Aviles left Miami scrambling with nine men and begging for time to wind down on a draw.
They ended up earning more.
A stunning stoppage-time goal from Leo Afonso stunned the Union and, in some ways, Inter Miami, who took home a win that few could have ever predicted. And what an important win this might be, one that could help a lot later in the season when they look back at this time without the two attacking stars.
GOAL rates Inter Miami's players from Subaru Park...
