Lionel Messi delivers the decisive dagger to sink the Union, 2-1, against Inter Miami

The Union suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, 2-1, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Robert Taylor opened the scoring for Miami (5-0-1, 13 points) in the 23rd minute, and Messi came off the bench to double the lead in the 57th. Dániel Gazdag scored the Union’s consolation goal in the 80th, the only one of their 19 shots that they put in the net.

The result sent the Herons over the Union (4-2-0, 12 points) into first place in the Eastern Conference, after the Union had surprisingly held MLS’s best record through the first five games.

When star Union left back Kai Wagner left practice earlier than his teammates on Thursday, it looked like the sort of thing that just happens sometimes. But by the time the team flew south on Friday, it was more than that: an abdominal issue that left Wagner questionable on the injury report.

By Saturday night, it was much more than that. Wagner was out entirely. Frankie Westfield started in his place. Though Westfield played right back in his previous appearances this year, the left side is nothing new for him. He played there often with the Union’s reserves in the past and with U.S. youth national teams.

Next to Westfield, Ian Glavinovich made his second straight start at centerback. When the Argentine made his first start last weekend against St. Louis, it was because Olwethu Makhanya was suspended. This time, it was manager Bradley Carnell’s choice.

Goalkeeper Andre Blake, meanwhile, was fit to start after some doubts stemming from collisions he was in while away with Jamaica’s national team. And Cavan Sullivan was on the bench a day after playing for the reserves at Huntsville City in Alabama.

On Miami’s side, Messi started the night on the bench, having dealt with a groin injury for the last two weeks. But the sense was he’d play eventually, and that proved true.

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There was plenty of blame to go around the Union’s defense for Miami’s first goal.

Jovan Lukić swung and missed trying to pick the ball off Sergio Busquets at midfield, though he’s far from the first player to have failed at that. A bigger problem was that Danley Jean Jacques was right next to him, leaving lots of space between the duo and the Union’s backline.

Once Busquets and Luis Suárez got the ball moving forward, the Union’s backline was caught too high up the field. Jordi Alba quickly ran past Nathan Harriel, and Jakob Glesnes was slow — indeed, outright hesitant — to react as former Union winger Fafà Picault went by.

That forced Glavinovich to turn toward Picault, which in turn forced Westfield to move centrally to deal with Taylor’s run up the middle. Benjamin Cremaschi thus had the whole right side of the field to himself, and he gladly took it.

Alba saw Cremaschi, spun the ball across the 18-yard box to him, Westfield misjudged the pass, and Taylor had an easy finish from close range. Multiple Union players appealed for an offside flag, but everyone was on.

At halftime, the Union had a 6-3 lead in total shots, including 2-1 in shots on target. But in terms of quality, Miami’s goal was better than anything the Union created.

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Carnell made a substitution at halftime, an unusual move for him, sending in Indiana Vassilev for Lukić. After the game, the manager said it was a tactical move to improve the team’s attack and passing cohesion.

Just over five minutes into the second half, a big roar went up from the stands at Chase Stadium, even though not much was happening in the game. It didn’t take long to discover that the reason was Messi was warming up on the sidelines. The legend eventually entered in the 55th, replacing Taylor.

Messi took barely two minutes to score, on another play where the Union’s defense looked poor. Suárez picked the ball off Westfield in a duel, then turned and ran ahead as the Union’s defense retereated.

That created a three-on-three with Picault, Suárez, and Messi against Harriel, Glesnes, and Glavinovich. The Miami trio had plenty of time to get the ball to Messi, isolated against Glavinovich on the right side of the 18-yard box, and the rest was easy.

Bruno Damiani subbed in for Uhre before play resumed. The Union won a corner kick soon after that, and Tai Baribo thumped a header that forced a sprawling save from Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari. Carnell made two more substitutions in the 75th minute, sending in Chris Donovan and Jesús Bueno for Baribo and Jean Jacques.

Gazdag’s goal was a well-taken smash from the box’s middle, set up by Sullivan’s cross from the right side. The Union deserved something for their efforts on the night, and at least they got that.

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Miami had to swap goalkeepers in the 86th after Ustari tweaked a leg muscle. But the player who replaced him was no step down: Drake Callender, an MLS veteran who has taken part in U.S. national team camps.

Makhanya entered in second-half stoppage time, so that Carnell could send Glesnes high up the field to be a target presence for long balls.

Donovan took one last shot with a header in the final seconds, and though it troubled Callender, it bounced harmlessly wide in the end.