Toronto FC has lacked a number of important qualities as it has laboured its way through a difficult MLS season, which is a big reason why it’s on the outside looking in just as the playoff race is headed into the home stretch.
Resilience, however, is not among those missing qualities. Toronto seems to have access to a boundless reservoir of that particular character trait.
TFC showed plenty of it in coming from behind to earn an important 2-1 home win over CF Montreal on Saturday in the latest edition of the 401 Derby. Lewis Morgan and Djordje Mihailovic both came off the bench to score goals deep into injury time to complete an amazing comeback by TFC in one of the wildest finishes to a game at BMO Field in recent memory.
Toronto looked to be dead and buried, just minutes away from suffering what would’ve been a soul-crushing loss to its bitter rivals. A loss wouldn't have eliminated the Reds from playoff contention, but it certainly would have delivered a killer blow to their post-season hopes.
Instead, TFC found another gear in registering an improbable victory, living to fight another day and renewing hope that it can clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 2020.
Toronto’s win was all the more impressive considering the contributions of the key players involved in the come-from-behind effort.
Starting goalkeeper Luka Gavran had played every minute of every game for TFC in 2026, but his iron-man streak came to end midway through the first half against Montreal when he was subbed off due to a leg injury. Backup William Yarbrough was called upon to take over, a big ask of a player who hadn’t played a single minute since Sept. 21, 2024, as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes.
Despite the lengthy layoff, Yarbrough, 37, showed few signs of rust, putting in a solid performance as he made six saves, including denying star DP forward Alexis Sánchez and former TFC midfielder Matty Longstaff on dangerous scoring opportunities.
Mihailovic’s winning goal was just reward for a player who has been dogged by injuries this season.
The 27-year-old averaged over 2,000 minutes and 28 appearances per year from 2021 to 2025 during his time with Montreal and the Colorado Rapids, but he’s been limited to just 13 league appearances (nine starts, 884 total minutes) this season as injuries have taken a toll on the playmaking midfielder.
He was sidelined with a pelvic stress fracture from late March until mid-July and sat out the four games leading into the clash with Montreal due to a hamstring issue. But Mihailovic put all of that behind him in the win against Montreal, scoring his third goal of the campaign to keep TFC in contention for a playoff berth.
“This is probably one of the (most) difficult years of my life. Two different injuries. Ones that I never thought I could have. This is the first muscle injury in my career, and I had to take it slow. Thank God I recovered smoothly, a bit faster than I think some expected, so that's kudos to the training staff, me doing the right things, but it's been a very inconsistent season for me personally, for the team,” Mihaliovic said.
The derby victory snapped a three-game losing skid and allowed Toronto (7-10-11) to move up two places to 11th in the Eastern Conference, four points and two spots below the playoff line with six games remaining in the regular season.
More displays of that trademark resilience will be required by TFC if it is to close that gap and qualify for the playoffs for the first time in six years.
"I feel like I talk so much about the resilience of the group, and once again we see it. The effort down the stretch; I actually thought for most of the game we played quite well. ... Really proud of the group; it was a great win. But we know we have more to do," coach Robin Fraser said.
Elsewhere in MLS this weekend…
• The Vancouver Whitecaps became the second MLS team to clinch a playoff berth thanks to a 1-1 road draw with Los Angeles FC on Saturday. Vancouver played a man down after defender Tristan Blackmon was shown a red card in the seventh minute, but still managed to take the lead through Oliver Larraz’s goal right before halftime. LAFC took a share of the points courtesy of Denis Bouanga’s equalizer early in the second half.
• Fresh off his retirement match for Argentina’s national team, Lionel Messi ran rampant in Inter Miami’s 4-0 home win over D.C. United. Messi bagged a brace on the night and now leads the Golden Boot race with 23 goals — four more than FC Dallas’ Petar Musa. Messi’s outstanding form puts him in pole position to win an unprecedented third consecutive league MVP award. Luis Suárez had two goals and an assist for Miami in the win against D.C.
• Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau made 12 saves in guiding Orlando City SC to a 3-2 home win over the Columbus Crew. Crépeau made a critical stop on Columbus forward Gonzalo Tapia in a 1-on-1 situation in the 89th minute and Orlando immediately marched up the field and netted the winner via Iván Angulo in an incredible end-to-end sequence. Crépeau started all five games for Canada at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
• Canadian national team centre back Luc de Fougerolles marked his long-awaited MLS debut by notching an assist in Real Salt Lake’s 2-1 road loss to the Philadelphia Union. With his team down by two goals, de Fougerolles played a perfectly weighted pass into the box for Saba Lobjanidze who finished it off to break up Philadelphia’s bid for a clean sheet. De Fougerolles joined RSL in September on a season-long loan from Fulham of the English Premier League.
• Canadian striker Marcus Caldeira came off the bench in the 63rd minute to score his sixth goal of the MLS season and help Minnesota United earn a 2-2 draw against the visiting Houston Dynamo. Caldeira, a 21-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., finished off an intricate passing play between himself, Tomás Chancalay and Cherrion Valerius by scoring past Houston goalkeeper Jonathan Bond from a tight angle.
• St. Louis City SC remains the hottest club in the league, its 6-2 home win over the LA Galaxy on Sunday extending its unbeaten run to 18 consecutive matches in MLS (20 across all competitions). The midwest club hasn’t lost a game since May 3 and can overtake Vancouver for top spot in the Western Conference when the teams meet on Wednesday in St. Louis. Carlo Holse bagged a hat trick in the first 21 minutes vs. LA, while Rafael Navarro added a brace and a pair of assists.
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 27 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
