Midfielder Niklas Dorsch scored a sensational goal in the 90th minute to give Toronto FC a well-deserved 3-3 draw against Charlotte FC on Wednesday night at BMO Field.
Down a man after Walker Zimmerman picked up a red card in the 56th minute, Daniel Salloi scored for Toronto (4-7-9) in the second half before Dorsch, playing only his third game for the Reds, notched the equalizer.
Dorsch scored with a right-footed shot from outside the box to send the home crowd into a frenzy.
TFC held a slight edge in possession (51 per cent to 49 per cent) but Charlotte (8-7-5) had 10 shots on target to seven by the host club.
The Reds put together a couple of scoring chances early, but it was Charlotte that struck first when winger Rodolfo Aloko scored with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box in the eighth minute.
Six minutes later, Markus Cimermancic scored his first goal of the season for Toronto after a nice rush down the right side by Josh Sargent, who set up his teammate for the strike.
Charlotte jumped ahead 2-1 in the 20th minute. Toronto goalkeeper Luke Gavran made a save on Liel Abada but Idan Toklomati scored on the rebound. The play started when a Toronto defender misjudged a slide in an attempt to intercept a pass.
Dorsch, who scored the game-winning goal in the Reds’ 2-1 win over New England on Saturday, further endeared himself to the home crowd by intercepting the ball twice off Charlotte attackers with a pair of well-timed sliding tackles.
The second half kicked off with TFC’s Benjamin Kuscevic heading a ball just wide of the goal after a corner kick by Alonso Coello.
Sargent almost scored for Toronto seven minutes into the second half when he dribbled the ball into the centre just outside the box and delivered a hard shot right at Charlotte keeper Kristijan Kahlina.
However, TFC’s chances of launching a comeback took a hit after Zimmerman's red card for taking down Toklomati on a Charlotte counterattack. Two minutes later, the visitors moved ahead 3-1 on a goal by Henry Kessle.
Toronto pulled within one in the 77th minute when Salloi scored his team-leading fifth goal after a nice pass from Theo Corbeanu.
Gavran made a couple key saves shortly before stoppage time. The Reds were without Deandre Kerr (lower body), Jonathan Osorio (knee) and Nelson Palacio (conditioning) against Charlotte.
TFC’s next match is on Saturday at Inter Miami.
