No Messi, no problem! Inter Miami have to cope without absent star and have two men sent off… but STILL manage to score a last-minute winner to beat MLS rivals Philadelphia Union
Despite missing star man Lionel Messi and having two men sent off, Inter Miami produced a sensational late winner to beat the Philadelphia Union.
David Beckham’s team are enjoying a brilliant season after their struggles of last year, and perhaps the best moment of the season came without their World Cup winner on the field.
While Messi is away with Argentina, Gerardo Martino’s team headed to Eastern Conference rivals Philly, and what could have been a disaster turned into a night to remember – especially for one rookie.
Leo Afonso, who has only recently been promoted to the first team after graduating from the academy set-up, became the match-winner in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time to stun the home crowd.
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His first goal for the team came on a night with Messi and Luis Suarez missing from the Miami lineup ahead of Copa America.
Leo Afonso wheels away in celebration after sealing a stoppage-time winner for Inter Miami
It was a night to remember for the league leaders, despite the absence of Lionel Messi
Miami also saw David Ruiz and Tomas Aviles each sent off in the second half as both were shown their second yellow cards.
Union, meanwhile, have now lost seven straight games at home – a run stretching back to March 30.
Missing leading scorers Daniel Gazdag and Julian Carranza, the Union opened the scoring in the third minute. Mikael Uhre got on the end of a ball from Jakob Glesnes, beat his defender, and fired it past Drake Callender for his sixth goal of the season.
The Union sought to double their lead in the 13th minute as Quinn Sullivan was put through, but he could only fire wide of the target.
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Messi is currently on international duty with Argentina ahead of Copa America next week
Inter Miami received two red cards in Philadelphia, but still walked away with all three points
Without Messi and Suarez, Miami initially struggled to find a flow offensively, not being credited with a shot on goal — or a single shot, for that matter — until the 39th minute.
But the breakthrough came in the 47th minute as Julian Gressel ripped a right-footed effort past Oliver Semmle for his first goal of the season, tying the match at 1-1.
After seeing their ranks reduced to nine men — first as David Ruiz was shown his second yellow card in the 69th minute before Tomas Aviles picked up his own second caution in the 88th minute — Miami found an improbable winner through Afonso, snapping a brief two-match winless run in the process.
The victory sees Inter Miami extend their lead at the top of the MLS Eastern Conference, with 11 wins from their first 19 games of the season.
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No Messi, no problem! Inter Miami have to cope without absent star and have two men sent off… but STILL manage to score a last-minute winner to beat MLS rivals Philadelphia Union
Miami voters on Tuesday elected Democrat Eileen Higgins as mayor, ending a nearly three-decade dry spell for her party after she defeated a Republican endorsed by Donald Trump in the predominantly Hispanic city.
While the election was officially nonpartisan, the race took on national significance, pitting Higgins against Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a former Miami city manager, in a contest closely watched by both parties.
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The win comes in the wake of recent electoral success achieved by the Democratic Party ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Here is what we know:
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What were the final results of the Miami election?
Higgins led Republican Gonzalez 59 percent to 41 percent on Tuesday night, according to preliminary results from the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office. She is the first woman ever elected as mayor in the city.
She won Tuesday’s run-off after leading the first round of voting on November 4 with 35 percent of the vote to Gonzalez’s 19 percent.
“Tonight, the people of Miami made history,” Higgins said in a statement. “Together, we turned the page on years of chaos and corruption and opened the door to a new era for our city.”
Higgins’ victory adds to a run of recent Democratic wins, including races in New Jersey and Virginia, as the party looks towards the 2026 midterms. That trend continued with strong results in November’s off-year elections and a solid showing in this month’s special House race in Tennessee.
While Miami’s mayor wields limited formal power, the role is highly symbolic, representing a city with a large Latino population at the centre of national immigration debates.
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Home to roughly half a million residents, Miami is Florida’s second-most populous city after Jacksonville. In recent election cycles, it has shifted towards Republicans, making a Democratic win stand out even more. Trump had won Miami-Dade County in the 2024 presidential election against her Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
Hispanic or Latino residents make up roughly 70 percent of Miami’s population. In Miami-Dade County overall, about 69–70 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino – a demographic majority that significantly shapes the region’s cultural and political identity.
In Miami, she often talked about Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, saying she heard from residents who were worried about family members being detained. She described the election as a referendum on the president’s policies, which have caused concerns about due process.
More than 200,000 people have been arrested since Trump launched the crackdown on migrants in January. At least 75,000 people, who were arrested as part of Trump’s fight against gang members and criminals, had no criminal records, according to new data. He has deported hundreds of migrants and halted asylum and green card applications.
The Trump administration had also ordered the arrest of several students who participated in protests against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Several of them have since been released by the courts.
The difference between the candidates was clear during a debate last month. Higgins called immigration enforcement in Miami “cruel and inhumane” and criticised the detention centre opened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, commonly known as “Alligator Alcatraz”.
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In that same debate, her opponent, Gonzalez, said he supported federal law enforcement rounding up “people who commit crimes”.
“I support putting down migrant criminals, I cannot in good conscience fight with the federal government and defend a rapist or a murderer,” Gonzalez added.
This combination of images shows candidates for mayor of Miami, from left, Republican Emilio Gonzalez and Democrat Eileen Higgins [AP]
Higgins repeated her message in an interview with El Pais this week, drawing a sharp contrast with Trump’s approach.
“He and I have very different points of view on how we should treat our residents, many of whom are immigrants,” she said.
“That is the strength of this community. We are an immigrant-based place. That’s our uniqueness. That’s what makes us special.”
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Affordability was also a major issue in the race. Higgins focused her campaign on local concerns such as housing costs, while Gonzalez campaigned on repealing Miami’s homestead property tax and streamlining business permits.
“My opponent is keen on building, building, building,” Gonzalez told CNN. “She wants to put a skyscraper in every corner … then calling it affordable housing, which is a misnomer, because very rarely is it truly affordable.”
During a speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Trump raised the issue of affordability, which Democrats have highlighted. He blamed high prices on his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The cost of living has been on the election campaign agenda in recent gubernatorial and mayoral elections in which Democrats have made gains, including the much-publicised New York mayoral election. The Democratic wins show that the issue has resonated with voters.
🚨Miami polls are now OPEN!🚨
Time to VOTE and bring a new era of good governance, true affordability, and putting families first over special interests.
— Emilio T. Gonzalez for Mayor of Miami (@Emilioformiami) December 9, 2025
Who is Eileen Higgins?
Higgins is Miami’s first non-Hispanic mayor in nearly three decades. Born in Ohio and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of New Mexico and later completed an MBA at Cornell University.
Before becoming mayor, Higgins represented a politically conservative district that includes Little Havana, the city’s well-known Cuban enclave.
She has embraced the nickname “La Gringa,” a term commonly used in Spanish to refer to white Americans.
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Her professional background spans international development and consulting, with a focus on infrastructure and transportation projects across Latin America. She later served as Peace Corps country director in Belize and went on to work as a foreign service officer for the United States Department of State, where her portfolio included diplomatic and economic development efforts in countries such as Mexico and South Africa.
After her government service, Higgins returned to the private sector before eventually entering local politics in Miami.
With her runoff victory tonight, Eileen Higgins will be Miami’s next mayor—the first woman in the city’s history and the first Democrat in nearly 30 years elected to the office.
It might not have been at the same level as pardoning Thanksgiving turkeys, or January 6 US capitol attack participants – but the mayor of Miami-Dade had her own Donald Trump moment on Tuesday in ritually sparing the life of a pig named Six Seven.
Daniella Levine Cava performed the seasonal stunt in the Cuban-themed Latin Cafe 2000 in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, where the immigrant population has also been affected by Trump’s aggressive new policies targeting them.
“This pig is innocent. She is worthy of this pardon. She has committed zero crimes,” Levine Cava said of the pig in a speech with inescapable allusions to the extraordinary and sizable number of pardons issued by Trump since his second US presidency began in January.
Katherine Castellanos and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Photograph: Courtesy of Latin Cafe 2000 / @WorldRedEye
“Unless you count eating six or seven apples per day,” Levine Cava continued. “May this pig enjoy a long and happy life away from worry.”
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The event, either celebrating or rejecting the region’s Hispanic tradition of feasting on pork during the holidays, was founded to replicate the annual turkey pardoning at the White House.
The pig, donated by a Coral Gables firefighter, was named for the current slang trend of young people shouting “six-seven” – deriving from a rap song lyric – for no discernible reason. The trend became so ubiquitous that Dictionary.com recently made “six-seven” its 2025 word of the year.
Six Seven was pardoned in a ceremony at Latin Cafe 2000. Photograph: Courtesy of Latin Cafe 2000 / @WorldRedEye
Six Seven the pig is now destined to live out its days at a rural sanctuary “far from charcoal and roasting pans”, according to the event’s official press release.
“The pig pardon has become one of our favorite ways to open the holiday season,” said Eric Castellanos, the owner of Latin Cafe 2000, in a particularly upbeat message.
“It captures the spirit of Miami, joyful, diverse, and rooted in traditions that bring people together. Each year, we are proud to celebrate culture and compassion in a way only Miami can.”
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Attenders enjoyed a vegetarian menu of spinach croquetas and cafecito as they celebrated Six Seven’s big moment.
