Defensive slip-ups, not a lack of attacking stars, doomed the Union this time against Lionel Messi

When the Union started the season 3-0, it was noted here that they might start out 5-0 and it still wouldn’t tell us how good the team actually is.

A visit to Inter Miami on Saturday loomed large all along as the real measuring stick. Now it has come and gone, a 2-1 Herons win in which Lionel Messi came off the bench to score the winner.

What did the game tell us? That in fact, the Union aren’t bad. A team that piles up a 19-7 advantage in shots against a Miami squad with a lot more firepower than just Messi gets to earn praise, even if it didn’t win the game.

That doesn’t mean all the shots were good ones. Other than Daniel Gázdag’s 50th-minute goal, scored when the Union were already down 2-0, only a few attempts truly stood out: Mikael Uhre’s quickly-taken strike from 18 yards in the 37th, Tai Baribo’s point-blank header saved in the 60th, and Chris Donovan’s last-ditch header that sailed wide in the final seconds.

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The expected goals statistic measuring the shots’ quality tells a more accurate story. Miami had an advantage of 1.92 to 1.65; in open-play chances, it was 1.92 to 0.87. The remainder of the Union’s overall total came from set-piece plays, including that Baribo header off a corner kick.

Still, the Union genuinely played well for long stretches of the night. They took the game to Miami even when Messi was on the field, and they deserve praise for that.

In fact, the most significant flaws on Saturday weren’t on offense. They were on defense — specifically, the position that’s been the biggest issue since before the season began.

You can excuse Frankie Westfield’s limitations playing at left back, even if it’s harder to excuse Nathan Harriel’s struggles at right back Saturday because he’s a veteran by now.

The least excusable issue is at centerback.

On Robert Taylor’s opening goal, Jakob Glesnes was up near midfield, often when the Union press high. When Sergio Busquets beat Jovan Lukić in a duel to start a sweep forward, Glesnes failed to immediately start retreating, then he hesitated for a few steps before backpedaling.

That gave former Union forward Fafà Picault the moment he needed to break away and start what quickly became a three-on-two Miami advantage.

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From there, Glesnes didn’t get back in time, Ian Glavinovich’s momentum had taken him past the ball, and no one else was nearby to stop Taylor from an easy finish of Benjamin Cremaschi’s setup pass. (Nor was anyone marking Cremaschi, for the record — he was wide open.)

“The way they overload the back line, there’s moments to stop or step, or stand or drop,” Union manager Bradley Carnell said after the game when asked about the play. “The guys have been so brave the last couple of weeks at stepping forward, and forward defending, and being on the front foot. There’s a moment of pause and delay, and that’s all they [Miami] need — they just need a half a yard, a half an inch, a half a moment to make a big difference.”

On the second goal, Glesnes sat just behind the midfield line when Luis Suárez forced a turnover. That was deep enough for Glesnes to have time to backpedal as Suárez dribbled upfield, and Harriel created his own issue when Picault flew down the wing to receive Suárez’s pass.

What Glesnes really got wrong came right after that. As Harriel recovered to a fair position to defend Picault, Glesnes stayed back from Suárez, swiveling his head between the striker and the Picault-Glesnes duel. When Picault passed back to Suárez, the veteran striker had ample space to turn and see Messi on his right.

A simple pass from one star to the other took care of the rest, setting up Messi one-on-one with Glavinovich.

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One mistake is one mistake, but make two and you start to get attention. More than two over the course of time, and you might get a lot of attention.

It has been more than two by now.

Ultimately, it’s Carnell’s job, not the media’s, to decide when it’s time to try a starting duo of Olwethu Makhanya and Glavinovich. And it bears saying that until last weekend, Glavinovich’s playing time was limited by a hamstring injury. Now he’s healthy and played his first full game with the Union after a 71-minute run vs. St. Louis a week before.

“We’re just progressing Ian’s minutes, and now Ian survived a big, big shift,” Carnell said. “It was a big transitional game, a very open game, back-and-forth. I checked in with him towards the 75th, 80th minute, and he said he was fine, so I’m really happy to have got him those minutes.”

Carnell has a few days to review the film before deciding on who gets the start Saturday against Orlando at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

But he will have to decide — and regardless of how he swings, it’ll be a big one.