10-man Toronto FC came back from two goals down to snag a 3-3 draw with visitors Charlotte FC on Wednesday night.
Newcomer Niklas Dorsch continued his hot start for Toronto (4-7-9, 21 points) with an inadvertent 90th-minute equalizer off a cross attempt.
Charlotte’s (8-7-5, 29 points) Rodolfo Aloko and Toronto’s Markus Cimermancic traded first MLS goals before Idan Toklomati put the visitors up in the early going.
Henry Kessler extended Charlotte’s lead in the 58th minute with his first goal for the club before Daniel Salloi pulled one back for Toronto. Charlotte captain Ashley Westwood tallied two assists.
Walker Zimmerman was sent off with a straight red card in the 56th minute for a late challenge on Toklomati, compounding an already difficult night for the Reds’ overstretched backline. It was the second straight match they were reduced to ten men.
Toronto were punished in the eighth minute when Westwood capitalized on a miscommunication between goalkeeper Luka Gavran and full-back Jackson Gilman. Westwood picked off Gavran’s wayward pass up the middle and set up Aloko, who blasted his first MLS goal past a contrite Gavran from the edge of the box.
The home team responded in the 14th minute when Cimermancic’s low, long-range effort froze goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina and tied the game 1-1.
Gavran might have provided a serious candidate for save of the season off Liel Abada in the 20th minute had Idan Toklomati not arrived on the scene to sweep home the rebound and restore the Crown’s lead. It was Benjamin Kuscevic’s missed interception that left TFC a man short in transition.
Kessler made it 3-1 on the set piece resulting from Zimmerman’s sending off, his close-range header adjudged to have narrowly crossed the goal line.
Theo Corbeanu breathed some life into his team in the 76th minute, dancing around David Schnegg and putting the ball on a platter for late-arriving Salloi. It was Salloi’s first goal since May.
Despite the early indecision, Gavran made a slew of important stops to preserve the point. Kahlina made his own game-saving intervention in the game’s dying seconds
The result ended Charlotte’s four-match winning streak against Toronto. Matheus Pereira made his first appearance since April. TFC will now have to deal with the absence of Zimmerman after Designated Player Djordje Mihailovic was red carded in the last match.
–Field Level Media
