The first-place Union are the first to admit how much better they can be

As usual, when the Union play a team with players more famous than theirs, the game wasn’t just about the game.

It wasn’t even just about the many fans who showed up wearing Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami pink or Argentina blue-and-white, then got drowned out by Union backers.

It was about the fan in a Christian Pulisic AC Milan jersey, the fan in a Liverpool jacket, and the fans in jerseys from Spain, Mexico, and the rest of the Americas — even the fan in a Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins hoodie in one of the standing-room sections.

What did those kinds of fans — the ones who perhaps only come to Union games to watch the other team, not their local one — think of what they saw Saturday?

They certainly were entertained. The Union went up 2-0 in a commanding first half, led 3-1 on clear merit into the 85th minute, then blew it with two mistakes that Messi pounced on.

At the final whistle of the 3-3 tie, the Union were the first team in MLS this year to reach 30 points in the standings. Tai Baribo had a league-leading 13 goals, and Quinn Sullivan had fully joined his phenom brother Cavan in the national spotlight.

What mattered more: all of that, or the fact that Philadelphia failed to beat Messi again? Well, what if another question might say more about where the Union actually are?

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s late heroics help Inter Miami snatch a 3-3 tie from the Union

The Union were winning, 3-2, in the 93rd minute when Bruno Damiani chipped a short pass through two Miami defenders for Danley Jean Jacques to run on to Miami’s 18-yard box. Jean Jacques could have run wide toward the corner to kill some clock. But he knew Jovan Lukić was running behind him, and was going to be wide-open for a shot.

What should he have done?

Jean Jacques passed, Lukić shot, and the ball slammed off the crossbar and out of play. A few inches lower and it’s 4-2, and perhaps the biggest party at Subaru Park since the 2022 Eastern Conference final. Instead, Telasco Segovia rocketed in the equalizer two minutes later.

The Union were still in first place in the Eastern Conference at the end of the night, with a 9-3-3 record. FC Cincinnati might overtake them Sunday night in Atlanta. But with two games until the season’s midpoint, the Union will be at worst second in the conference and third league-wide when they visit Toronto FC on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

Did anyone see that coming, even in the Union locker room? No, and Jakob Glesnes freely admitted it.

» READ MORE: Lionel Messi had to share the spotlight with Quinn Sullivan before and during Saturday's game

“I don’t think anyone would [have] believed this at the start of the season,” he said. “It’s huge for everyone in the locker room that we have been taking the steps that we have been doing from January until now, because now we have been making a belief that we can do it every weekend. … That’s a huge honor to the staff, and also to the players that have been committed to what we have been doing now for the last six months.“

Manager Bradley Carnell knows it, too. He took the job under a heap of pressure thanks to Jim Curtin’s past success and popularity, and has pressed almost all the right buttons. The Union are on a nine-game unbeaten streak, including seven games in a nine-game month.

Not every team would get this far with only two major players injured, goalkeeper Andre Blake and centerback Ian Glavinovich. You don’t have to read the league-wide injury report for long to know how many other teams haven’t.

But Carnell’s training methods and game-day execution — especially when it comes to substitutions, Curtin’s biggest weak spot — have paid off.

Unfortunately, that has not produced wins against two of the best teams the Union have played. They’ve watched potential wins over Miami and the Columbus Crew end up as ties with late goals conceded.

» READ MORE: The Union have proven they can compete with elite teams, but they still can’t beat Columbus

“Of course it’s a learning moment, but it would be better to stand here after [a game] and say, ‘Yes, we did it, and we learned from it, and now we know how to do it next time,” Glesnes said. “But this is how it is to meet good teams like Miami and Columbus.”

As frustrating as it is for fans, the fact that it’s so frustrating in the locker room might be worth praise, not just criticism. How many teams with a record this good would say loudly that they can get much better?

“We [could] look at games against Columbus and Miami and think back and say, ‘Hey, this is a great draw,’” Carnell said. “No. We’ve set standards for ourselves, and these feel disappointing. And I’m proud of the group that we get to this moment that we’re disappointed at this result.”

The boss also was plenty critical.

“It’s good experiences for us, and we need to learn how to close out games,” Carnell said. “This is part of our process with the young group that we have.”

» READ MORE: For the first time in seven years, the Union are on a U.S. Open Cup run. Will it matter?

Youth isn’t always a good excuse, but inexperience is a fact. For as well as Olwethu Makhanya played for most of the night, he got caught on two of Miami’s goals. Frankie Westfield didn’t do enough on his side of the field as a late substitute. Nathan Harriel didn’t close down Fafà Picault when he could have in the buildup to the equalizer, and Jovan Lukić got beaten off the dribble by Segovia.

“Of course, it’s going to be growing pains, and this, we have to embrace it,” Carnell said, specifically noting when “a little bit of panic and doubt and fear maybe creeps into the minds of the boys” after Messi’s free kick made it 3-2. (That came from a veteran’s mistake, Glesnes tripping Messi just above the 18-yard box.)

“One half of me is still smiling ear-to-ear; the other side is now pushing the professionalism of the game, and how we can dictate the play,” Carnell said. “And I’ve seen a lot of both.”

Cynics might ask for proof of that. It exists, and while it all happened against bad teams, it still happened. A team without enough confidence wouldn’t have found late winners at Montréal and Atlanta, wouldn’t have come back at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy, and might have let going to penalty kicks get in its head in the Open Cup against Indy Eleven.

» READ MORE: With one late goal, the Union slayed two of their biggest demons in beating the Galaxy

There’s something good in the bigger picture. Now it’s up to Carnell and the players to grow it for the rest of the season, starting with playing five of their next six games on the road.

“It’s just now trying to find the moments — whether it’s savviness, or whether it’s proximity, area of the field, where do we play the game, and how do we play the game in that area,” Carnell said. “Do we keep the ball? Do we need to go in behind? Just moments of, probably, game management, and that’s part of our learning process.”

That answered one of the big questions. The other one was up to the eye of the beholder.

“I backed myself, and the staff, and this team, and they’ve committed to everything that we’ve ever asked,” Carnell said. “I expected us to be competitive. Did I know we were going to be at 30 [points] after 15 [games]? No. But I was very hopeful of a successful start, and I think we’ve had that.”

Whether you agree might depend on why you watched Saturday: for the Union, Messi, or a show. All three happened. The rest is yours to judge.