TORONTO - Orlando City SC rallied from two separate deficits only to concede a stoppage-area rebound in the final minutes, settling for a 3-3 draw against Toronto FC at BMO Field on Wednesday night that left the Lions seventh in the Eastern Conference with five regular-season matches remaining.
The result keeps Orlando City at 11-13-5 and 38 points, while Toronto FC sits at 7-10-12 with 33 points. The Lions held a one-goal lead as late as the 83rd minute before Matheus Pereira converted a rebound off a Maxime Crépeau parry to split the points.
“A little bit frustrating because I think we did well to put ourselves in a good position, and of course, you’re never going to be happy when you don’t win,” said forward Daryl Dike. “A good point away from home, but of course, we want to win, so it’s frustrating to lose two points in the manner that we did.”
The night’s biggest individual milestone belonged to Martín Ojeda, who converted a penalty kick just before halftime to score the 48th goal of his Orlando City career, making him the club’s all-time leading scorer across all competitions. Filling in as captain for the injured Robin Jansson, Ojeda slotted into the lower-left corner for his 15th goal of the year across all competitions, equalizing after Theo Corbeanu’s cross set up Lewis Morgan’s header gave Toronto the lead in the 26th minute.
Antoine Griezmann continued his remarkable run since joining the Lions in July, scoring his 10th MLS goal of the season in the 77th minute - his ninth consecutive MLS match with a goal contribution - and then assisting Dike’s go-ahead strike in the 83rd minute. Griezmann has now recorded 17 goal contributions in 17 appearances across all competitions since arriving this summer. Iván Angulo, who logged his 13th assist of the year on Dike’s goal, leads the team with 19 goal contributions across all competitions.
Interim head coach Martín Perelman acknowledged the team’s effort while pointing to costly defensive lapses. “I think it was a game, first half, we dominate, and we unfortunately concede a goal. And then in the second half, pretty similar situation,” Perelman said. “I think at the end of the day, we concede goals that costs us too much and force mistakes. Maybe we need to improve there, but as well, it’s true that the team came here and I think dominated the game and in normal situations we would win. It was a point. It’s not what we wanted because we came here to win.”
Orlando City returns home to Inter.co Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 17, to host D.C. United, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Apple TV.