Toronto FC (5W-4L-1T, 16 points) recorded their first come-from-behind victory of the 2024 Major League Soccer season after defeating Orlando City SC (2W-4L-3T, 9 points) by a 2-1 scoreline, courtesy of late goals from Tyrese Spicer and Prince Owusu, at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday evening.

First Half:

Toronto FC Head Coach John Herdman made three changes from last weekend’s starting lineup in the MLS victory over New England Revolution with Kevin Long, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty and Alonso Coello coming in for Kobe Franklin, Tyrese Spicer and Matty Longstaff.

Following a closely contested opening half-hour in Florida, Orlando City opened the scoring when Duncan McGuire converted Facundo Torres’ cross in the 37^th minute to score his fourth goal of the 2024 MLS campaign.

TFC responded almost immediately when Deybi Flores’ long ball found Federico Bernardeschi, who saw his effort creep past the far post minutes later. In the final minute of first-half stoppage time, McGuire had the ball in the back of the Toronto net once again for the Lions, only for the American forward to be deemed offside by the linesman’s flag before the hosts went into the half-time interval with a one-goal advantage.

Second Half:

Looking to draw level after the break, coach John Herdman handed new acquisition Derrick Etienne Jr. a club debut when he replaced Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty in the 58^th minute. Toronto’s defensive resolve was put to the test fifteen minutes later when Sean Johnson was forced into a low save from Facundo Torres in the 73^rd minute.

After several waves of possession, the Reds found a late equalizer when Federico Bernardeschi’s long ball found Kobe Franklin, whose cross into the box was headed home by Tyrese Spicer. The 87^th minute equalizer marked Spicer’s first road goal for Toronto FC as well as Franklin and Bernardeschi’s first assists of the 2024 MLS campaign.

Three minutes later, the Reds completed the second-half comeback in spectacular fashion when Bernadeschi’s tireless work down the right wing resulted in the Italian sending in a cross for Prince Owusu, who smartly headed past Pedro Gallese in Orlando’s net. With the goal, Prince Owusu has now scored goals in four consecutive matches for the first time in his TFC career and the 90^th minute game-winner helped the Reds record their first come-from-behind victory of the 2024 MLS season and the club’s first since beating Chicago Fire 3-2 at BMO Field on May 28, 2022.

Up next, Toronto FC return home to host FC Dallas in MLS regular season action next Saturday evening. Kick-off from BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario is set for 7:30 p.m. ET and will be available to watch on TSN in Canada on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV globally.

LINEUPS

ORLANDO CITY SC – Pedro Gallese; Dagur Thorhallsson, David Brekal (Rodrigo Schlegel 16’), Robin Jansson (C), Rafael Santos (Kyle Smith 71’); César Araújo, Wilder Cartagena, Iván Angulo, Martín Ojeda (Nicolás Lodeiro 60’), Facundo Torres; Duncan McGuire (Luis Muriel 71’)

Substitutes Not Used: Mason Stajduhar, Michael Halliday, Felipe Martins, Jeorgio Kocevski, Jack Lynn

TORONTO FC – Sean Johnson; Sigurd Rosted (Kosi Thompson 78’), Kevin Long, Nicksoen Gomis; Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (Derrick Etienne Jr. 58’), Alonso Coello (Matty Longstaff 70’), Deybi Flores (Kobe Franklin 78’), Raoul Petretta (Tyrese Spicer 69’); Federico Bernardeschi, Jonathan Osorio (C), Prince Owusu

Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Aimé Mabika, Cassius Mailula, Deandre Kerr

NOTABLES:

• Derrick Etienne Jr. made his Toronto FC debut as a 58th minute substitute, becoming the seventh player to make his club debut during the 2024 Major League Soccer season.
• Kobe Franklin recorded his first assist of the 2024 MLS season on Tyrese Spicer’s 87th minute equalizer.
• With his 90th minute game-winning goal, Prince Owusu has now been involved in seven of Toronto FC’s last 10 goals, recording five goals and two assists, across MLS and Canadian Championship action.
• Prince Owusu has now scored goals in four consecutive matches for the first time in his TFC career, after finding the net against Charlotte FC, New England Revolution, Simcoe County Rovers and Orlando City SC during the month of April.
• Federico Bernardeschi recorded two assists in a single match for the second time in his Toronto FC career and the Italian’s first since recording a pair of assists against Inter Miami CF on March 18, 2023.
• The two late goals scored by Tyrese Spicer and Prince Owusu in the space of two minutes and 46 seconds (166 seconds) marks the club’s fastest back-to-back MLS goals since Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne scored a pair in the space of a minute and 40 seconds (100 seconds) against CF Montréal on September 4, 2022.
• Toronto FC recorded their first come-from-behind victory of the 2024 MLS season and the club’s first since beating Chicago Fire 3-2 at BMO Field on May 28, 2022.
• The result also marked TFC’s first come-from-behind MLS regular season road victory since the club beat Columbus Crew by a score of 2-1 at MAPFRE Stadium on May 10, 2017.
• The Reds recorded a road victory against Orlando City SC for the first time since a 2-0 win at Exploria Stadium on May 4, 2019.

POSTMATCH SOUND

Link can be found here.