Recap: Late equalizer steals draw for Toronto FC

It was a fairly frustrating night at BMO Field on Friday for Toronto FC, but a heroic late equalizer from Jordan Hamilton saved a point at home as they drew Sporting Kansas City, 2-2.

The frustration began in the 25th minute, when the referee gave SKC a penalty for this:

The initial call was a foul outside the box (which was a soft one to begin with), but a VAR check led the referee to believe that contact had been made inside. So, Felipe Gutierrez smashed the penalty left side.

It looked like things were turning around for TFC as the half progressed, as they had a number of good chances. Nick DeLeon found the breakthrough in the 43rd minute, finishing off an excellent sequence of passing that including a great through ball from Alejandro Pozuelo and a perfect ground cross by Justin Morrow:

TFC were unable to take over, however, and the game was taken out of their hands yet again midway through the second half. This time, the referee waited until well after the play to initiate the VAR check, which took quite a long time but ultimately he ruled that Nick DeLeon had committed a foul in the box.

Gutierrez smashed it, again.

That wasn’t quite it, though. Deep into stoppage time, as it looked like TFC’s goose was cooked, Ryan Telfer (back for the night from York9 FC) came streaking down the right wing to send a perfect cross to Jordan Hamilton, and it ended up in the back of the net.

It was, overall, a weird night for TFC. They were probably the better team, but they struggled to finish. They had more high-quality chances than usual, though, and they played very positively for real stretches.

Stats

Shots: TOR 14, SKC 9
Shots on target: TOR 5, SKC 4
Possession: TOR 50.8%, SKC 49.2%
Duels won: TOR 59, SKC 52

Man of the match