Toronto FC comeback snuffed out by late Philadelphia Union equalizer
CF Montreal outlasts Forge FC in penalties to reach Canadian Championship final
Substitute Sergio Santos took advantage of slack defending to head home a 77th-minute goal that lifted the Philadelphia Union into a 2-2 tie with Toronto FC in MLS play Wednesday.
Toronto conceded in the first minute but scored goals in the 66th and 70th minutes to set the stage for a comeback win in front of 5,026 fans at BMO Field.
Santos undid all that good work, taking advantage of a Kai Wagner cross to beat Quentin Westberg for his sixth goal of the season.
The Brazilian has hurt Toronto before, scoring a hat trick last season against TFC.
Toronto (6-17-9) had pulled even at 1-1 with a fortuitous goal midway through the second half. Centre back Jack Elliott's attempted clearance from within the Philadelphia penalty box hit Toronto midfielder Noble Okello and bounced back towards the Union goal, where Jozy Altidore pounced on it and curled a left-footed shot into the goal for his fourth of the season.
WATCH | Union's late equalizer halts Toronto FC's comeback effort:
For Altidore, it was a second timely goal in as many games. His 95th-minute free kick gave Toronto a 1-1 tie with visiting CF Montreal on Saturday.
Things went from bad to worse four minutes later for Elliott. Attempting to deal with a low cross from Jacob Shaffelburg, the sliding Philadelphia defender, worried about a lurking Altidore, poked the ball into his own goal for a 2-1 Toronto lead.
Toronto fielded a makeshift backline for the second game in a row with Toronto captain Michael Bradley, making his 250th appearance for Toronto in all competitions, starting at centre back in place of the injured Omar Gonzalez.
And it took Philadelphia 37 seconds to breach that defence, with Alejandro Bedoya beating Westberg with a hard, low shot for his third goal of the season. It's debatable whether Toronto had touched the goal before picking it out of its net.
Centre back Jakob Glesnes started the play from the Philadelphia half, floating a long diagonal ball to Wagner whose low cross into the penalty found Daniel Gazdag. Attracting defenders like moths to a flame, the Hungarian international sent the ball over to an unmarked Bedoya who got his shot off before Jonathan Osorio could reach him.
It marked the 13th goal Toronto has given up in the first 15 minutes of a game this season, worst in the league (Toronto has scored six times in the first 15 minutes).
Toronto had more of the play after the early goal but Philadelphia calmly absorbed the pressure and looked to counter-attack. TFC's best chance came in the 37th minute when Shaffelburg turned and fired a shot on target, but his hard shot went straight at Union 'keeper Matt Freese. It was Toronto's lone shot on target in the first half despite having 59.4 per cent possession.
Philadelphia (13-8-11) arrived looking to consolidate second place in the Eastern Conference, holding a 23-point edge in the standings over TFC and knowing a win would officially clinch a playoff berth.
CF Montreal hangs on to beat Forge FC
CF Montreal advanced to the Voyageurs Cup final after a marathon 11 rounds of penalty kicks to deny Forge FC's bid on a Canadian Soccer Championship on Wednesday.
After a 0-0 draw and seven successful penalties from both sides in 10 rounds, it came down to Forge FC keeper Triston Henry against Montreal's Sebastian Breza.
Breza stopped Henry while Breza slipped a slow roller past Henry for the victory before 5,388 fans at Tim Hortons Field.
Forge FC was trying to become the first team from the Canadian Premier League to advance to the Voyageurs Cup final.
Montreal is the defending champion, having captured the title in 2019.
There was no competition last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CF Montreal will play the other semifinal winner between Toronto FC and Pacific FC at BMO Field on Nov 3.
Forge FC carried its solid play at the end of the opening half into the final 45 minutes with a couple of early chances, bu the first half concluded without a goal. Forge FC keeper Triston Henry made a pair of early saves at the 10-minute and 11-minute mark.
Forge (13-8-2) sits third in the Canadian Premier League table with 41 points, three behind the leader, Cavalry FC and one point shy of second-place Pacific FC.
After a disheartening 1-1 draw in Toronto on Saturday, in which Toronto FC scored in stoppage time, Montreal (11-10-10) dropped to eighth in the MLS Eastern Conference, just below the playoff line.
Whitecaps defeat Minnesota FC
Forward Brian White scored once and played a role in a Minnesota United FC own goal as the Vancouver Whitecaps used a 2-1 victory to climb into a Major League Soccer playoff spot Wednesday night.
White was part of a pretty three-way passing play that put Vancouver ahead by two in the 64th minute.
Forward Cristian Dajome started the play just outside the Minnesota box.
WATCH | White wills Whitecaps to win:
He passed to forward Ryan Gauld who dished to White who buried the shot for his team-leading 12th of the season.
The goal came just minutes after Minnesota's Adrien Hunou came close to tying the match when his shot at an empty net hit the post.
Fanendo Adi made things interesting scoring for Minnesota in extra time.
