Birmingham Legion looked set for their sixth league defeat of the season for much of their encounter with Miami FC, but a moment of inspiration from Peter-Lee Vassell earned their eighth draw instead.

Miami dominated the first half and finally took the lead four minutes before the break. Birmingham didn’t respond until the 78th minute, when Vassell scored his second free-kick for the Three Sparks.

Miami started with clear intent against a makeshift Legion backline. With Phanuel Kavita missing, Kadeem Cole was asked to deputise at centre-back alongside Bryce Washington, and Miami looked to test him early.

Just two minutes into the game, Jassem Koleilat made his first save of the game after a shot from distance. Ten minutes later, he made his second from an attempt slightly closer to goal. In the same minute, McCartney had to block a point-blank save at the back post after a cross off the right.

Miami kept the pressure on with another cross in the 14th minute. The ball was headed back centrally for a player to run onto, but thankfully for Legion the attempt was just wide of the left post.

In that same time, Birmingham struggled to create much of anything.

Samuel Shashoua had a shot saved at the near post in the eighth minute, but Eloy Room, recently returned from representing Curaçao at the World Cup, was otherwise largely unbothered. Legion did not have a real chance again until the 19th minute, and even then Tyler Pasher’s shot was blocked before getting anywhere near the goal.

Ten minutes later, Birmingham’s chances at a result seemed to get even harder as the Canadian went down with an off-ball injury. The Three Sparks had already named only six substitutes due to an injury crisis, so losing Pasher on the half-hour mark was the last thing this struggling team needed.

And yet, the next few minutes saw Legion take the ascendency.

In the 31st minute, Koleilat played a clever long ball that almost ended in a goal. Ronaldo Damus ran onto it with two Miami defenders near, but the Haitian managed to knock it to his left into the path of Gevork Diarbian. The winger squared up his man, stepped inside and curled a shot at the far post, only to see it go agonisingly wide.

Four minutes later, Sebastian Tregarthen had a shot of his own go just wide after shooting across goal from the right. The goalkeeper did just enough to send it out for a corner, though questions could be asked if Diarbian, unmarked at the far post, would have been a better passing option than the shot.

Despite these two moments, Miami struck right before halftime.

In the 43rd minute, Miami sent in a dangerous cross from the right. Cole missed his attempted header to clear it, letting it bounce off of Washington behind him. Miami’s Arney Rocha reacted fastest to the loose ball to score already the 14th goal against Legion originating from a wide area.

Likely buoyed by the goal, Miami returned for the second half with renewed energy. As in the first half, it took only a couple of minutes for a shot to test Koleilat. Jürgen Locadia forced the Czech shotstopper into a save in the 48th minute, before Gerald Diaz did the same in the 53rd. Locadia then had another shot blocked in the box by Tregarthen 10 minutes later.

For Legion, the biggest chance of the second half came in the 66th minute. Romario Williams, recently subbed on for Damus, played a clever reverse pass for Diarbian to run onto. The winger was through on goal, though with suspicions of offside, and went down after rounding the goalkeeper.

Though it looked like a blatant foul, the referee wanted nothing to do with it. After seeing replays, it seems he did make the right decision as Room pulled out from the challenge and Diarbian initiated contact instead in the search of a penalty.

Room was forced into another save in the 74th minute as Diarbian’s substitute, Serge Ngoma, connected with a header at the back post. Moments later, his Legion counterpart had to do the same as Locadia made it into the box following a long ball over the top.

After the two teams traded those shots in the 74th and 76th, Legion finally broke through in the 78th

Sebastián Saucedo won a wide free-kick on the left flank. While it looked well placed for a crossing opportunity, Vassell repeated his trick from last season’s Indy Eleven game to instead catch Room out with a near post shot. Though the keeper got a hand to it, he could not prevent the equalizer going in.

Both teams then had a chance to win it in the final 10 minutes.

First, Locadia had a shot across goal go just wide of the far post in the 84th minute. Two minutes later, Williams got Legion’s last chance as Saucedo threaded him through on goal but an unfortunate bobble led to a mishit shot flying well over the crossbar.

In the end, the teams had to settle for the draw, just as they had back at Protective Stadium in May. While Legion can be proud of fighting back to earn something, they remain on an eight-game winless streak in the league and lead the USL Championship for draws with eight from 15 games.

A break from league play next week will hopefully provide the Three Sparks an opportunity to reset after two months without a league win. They will return to action on Saturday with a USL Cup encounter with FC Tulsa.

Birmingham Legion host FC Tulsa at 7 p.m. July 11 at Protective Stadium.

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