Toronto FC and D.C. United battled to a 2-2 draw in the MLS season opener for both on Saturday night in Washington.
Toronto trailed by a goal in each half but notched the equalizer on both occasions, including a penalty kick by Federico Bernardeschi in the 70th minute for the match’s final goal.
Robin Fraser made his debut as Toronto’s head coach. As an assistant from 2015-19, he helped guide the Red to the MLS Cup Final three times, winning a title in 2017.
In a wide-open match with lots of breakdowns, both teams had a multitude of scoring opportunities. In his MLS debut, 21-year-old Kim Joon-Hong had five saves for D.C. United while veteran Sean Johnson had one save for Toronto.
For D.C. United, Boris Enow scored his first MLS goal and last year’s MLS Golden Boot winner Christian Benteke also tallied. Jonathan Osorio notched Toronto’s first goal.
Enow’s goal came in the eighth minute as he stole a pass, dribbled 25 yards to the middle of the penalty box and fired a shot left-footed into the bottom right corner.
In the 27th minute, Toronto got the equalizer as Joon-Hong flailed at a cross from Bernardeschi. Aaron Herrera attempted to clear with a back-footed flick but it went to Osorio, who scored into an open goal to make it 1-1.
D.C. United went back up 2-1 in the 35th minute as Lucas Bartlett blasted a long ball down the right sideline, Jacob Murrell ran it down and crossed to the far post to Benteke, who rose over a defender and scored on a header.
Early in the second half, Joon-Hong made two saves on shots from point-blank range.
But there was little he could do when former Toronto player Brandon Servania committed a foul in the box and Bernardeschi placed a penalty kick in the top left corner to make it 2-2.
It was a battle of rebuilding clubs, matching D.C. United, which hasn’t made the playoffs in five seasons, and Toronto, which has a four-year postseason drought. Last year, the teams finished 10th and 11th, respectively, in the Eastern Conference.
–Field Level Media
