FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Chase Stadium turf was still steaming from a wild night of soccer when FC Dallas walked off with a 4-3 victory over Inter Miami on April 27, 2025, leaving the home crowd shell-shocked. Down 3-1 with just over 30 minutes to play, Dallas clawed back with a ferocious rally, exposing a rare crack in Miami’s unbeaten armor and handing the Herons their first MLS loss of the season.
The game kicked off with Dallas striking first. In the eighth minute, Shaq Moore darted through Miami’s defense, slotting a clean shot past goalkeeper Drake Callender to make it 1-0. Miami, missing their star quartet of Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets—rested after a grueling Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal loss in Vancouver—didn’t flinch. Fafa Picault answered in the 16th, pouncing on a rebound to level the score at 1-1. Then, 18-year-old Ecuadorian Allen Obando, in his first MLS start, fired home his debut goal in the 29th, assisted by Ian Fray, giving Miami a 2-1 lead.
The Herons seemed to seize control after the break. Hector Martinez charged in during the 56th minute, his left-footed rocket ricocheting off the far post to push Miami ahead 3-1. But Dallas, who hadn’t scored in their last two matches, wasn’t done. Osaze Urhoghide ignited the comeback in the 64th, blasting a right-footed shot from the box’s heart to cut the deficit to 3-2. Five minutes later, Pedro Martins, the night’s hero, threaded a long ball to Anderson Julio, who sprinted past defenders and buried it to tie the game at 3-3.
With the crowd of 20,727 buzzing, Martins wasn’t finished. In the 81st, he latched onto a Logan Farrington assist, coolly slipping the ball past Callender for the 4-3 lead. Dallas’s defense, anchored by goalkeeper Maarten Paes, held firm through nine tense minutes of stoppage time, sealing the improbable win.
Miami’s Javier Mascherano, visibly frustrated, admitted postgame that his tactical shifts backfired. Switching to a five-man defensive line after Dallas’s second goal, he said, threw his squad off balance. Dallas, meanwhile, celebrated their first victory since March 29, improving to 4-3-3 with 15 points. Miami, still atop the Eastern Conference at 5-1-3 with 18 points, faced a bitter pill before their Champions Cup rematch with Vancouver on April 30.
The match stats told a tight story: Miami held 53.5% possession to Dallas’s 46.5%, but Dallas edged out with nine shots on goal to Miami’s five. Both teams traded blows, with Dallas earning three corner kicks to Miami’s eight, and Paes matching Callender’s five saves. Referee Lukasz Szpala issued just one yellow card, to Dallas, in a fiercely contested but clean battle.
For Dallas, the win was a statement. Under new coach Eric Quill, they’ve gone unbeaten in five road games this season, a mark matched only by Miami, Columbus, and Vancouver. For Miami, the absence of their star power proved costly, though Mascherano insisted Messi, who trained that day, was fit and ready for the next fight. The Herons now turn their focus to overturning a 2-0 deficit in the Champions Cup, while Dallas heads to San Diego on May 3, riding the high of a comeback for the ages.