Recap: Pozuelo, Hamilton the heroes in roller coaster Toronto FC win

It was one hell of a night at BMO Field. In one of the wildest matches we’ve seen the Reds play in a while, Toronto FC topped Minnesota United 4-3, coming from behind twice to win it.

After Darwin Quintero opened the scoring just under the 20 minute mark after Alex Bono badly misjudged a lobbed ball, Alejandro Pozuelo took over. He hopped on a long Chris Mavinga clearance just inside his own half and carried it all the way to the top of the box, sent the defender completely the wrong way and sending a screamer into the right side of the net. Jozy Altidore was an admirable decoy, as well.

Just a minute and 50 seconds later (a club record), Pozuelo found the net again, jumping on a ball at the corner of the six-yard box and flicking it in at the near post. Another beautiful finish to put TFC up 2-1 before halftime.

The second half was even wilder, though. Minnesota added another two goals in quick succession; Angelo Rodriguez headed one in from the top of the six-yard box to equalize, and Quintero scored a penalty after Chris Mavinga chopped him down aggressively.

Jordan Hamilton hadn’t played his part yet, though. In the 77th minute:

And not long after, in the 79th minute, he did it again, with a brace that came almost (but not quite) as quickly as Pozuelo’s. That winner was assisted by the magic Spaniard, by the way.

After that, Minnesota really went to pieces. Frustrations took over, and Jan Gregus took a red card in the 89th minute for clattering Pozuelo. Seconds later, Loons captain Francisco Calvo took a second yellow (the first was for making an absolute meal of tying his shoe while Minnesota were leading), and put his side down to nine men.

The Reds saw it out, with Minnesota’s frustrations continuing to bubble over as they seemed in search of a hat trick of red cards, and TFC picked up their fourth victory of 2019.

Stats

Shots: TOR 14, MIN 18
Shots on target: TOR 7, MIN 7
Possession: TOR 57.3%, MIN 42.7%
Fouls: TOR 7, MIN 12
Duels won: TOR 53, MIN 42

Man of the match