Rodolfo Pizarro scored an equalizing goal just two minutes into his preseason debut with Inter Miami CF, but tallies from Sergio Santos and Matej Oravec sent the Philadelphia Union to a 2-1 victory in the preseason match between the sides on Saturday.
Santos opened the scoring for Philadelphia in the 19th minute, tapping home a point-blank finish off a cross from Brendan Aaronson.
That set the stage for a splashy introduction for Inter Miami's impending acquisition, who quickly leveled the contest almost immediately upon entering, finishing off a feed from Lee Nguyen in the 33rd minute, two minutes after coming on as a substitute on just his fourth touch.
Pizarro, who has yet to be officially announced as Miami's latest signing, figures to be tasked with carrying a huge load for the club's attack this season, so head coach Diego Alonso will certainly hope the quick strike is a sign of many more goals to come.
The match would stay level at 1-1 until the 86th minute, when Oravec cashed home a rocket shot from distance past Miami goalkeeper Luis Robles for the game-winning tally.
It's the first official result of the preseason for Inter Miami, which had played three closed-door scrimmages prior to Saturday's contest.
“These were our first full 90 minutes and I think the team performed well, endured the 90 minutes as we expected it," Alonso said afterward. "I think we did some things well, we need to improve in some others but we keep evolving game by game. There are things that I keep liking and others that we need to improve on but overall I’m happy with our first full 90 minutes. This was our objective, we have been training very hard and needed to play 90 minutes today and we did well.”
The Union, meanwhile, move to 3-2-0 through five exhibition matches ahead of their preseason finale, which is set for a Wednesday matchup with FC Dallas in Clearwater, Florida.
Goals
- 19' - PHI - Sergio Santos
- 33' - MIA - Rodolfo Pizarro
- 86' - PHI - Matej Oravec
Lineups
Inter Miami CF starting XI: Luis Robles, Dylan Nealis, Roman Torres, Nicolas Figal, Ben Sweat, Wil Trapp, Victor Ulloa, Matias Pellegrini, Luis Arugdo, Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo
Philadelphia Union starting XI: Andre Blake, Olivier Mbaizo, Jakob Glesnes, Mark McKenzie, Raymon Gaddis, Alejandro Bedoya, Cole Turner, Jamiro Monteiro, Brenden Aaronson, Kacper Przybylko, Sergio Santos
