Emilio Aristizábal scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to lift Toronto FC to a 2-1 comeback victory over Eastern Conference leader Nashville SC on Wednesday at BMO Field.
Toronto rallied from an early deficit against the conference’s top team, overturning a first-half own goal to claim all three points in dramatic fashion.
Nashville struck first in the third minute when Toronto’s Niklas Dorsch turned the ball into his own net, handing the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The hosts made a triple substitution just before the hour mark, sending on Benjamin Kuscevic, Lewis Morgan and Jackson Gilman in the 59th minute. The changes soon paid off. In the 72nd minute, Dániel Sallói equalized off an assist from Theo Corbeanu to make it 1-1.
The match remained level until deep into stoppage time, when Aristizábal scored in the 90th-minute plus three, set up by Sallói, to give Toronto the winner. Luka Gavran was shown a yellow card in the 90th-minute plus seven for time wasting.
Nashville controlled possession throughout, holding 58 percent of the ball to Toronto’s 42 percent, and completed 436 accurate passes to the hosts’ 298. The visitors also earned eight corner kicks to Toronto’s three.
Despite conceding the majority of possession, Toronto generated the more dangerous attack. The hosts recorded 16 total shots to Nashville’s 11 and put seven on target, compared with five for the visitors. Toronto took 13 of its shots from inside the box.
Both goalkeepers made five saves. Toronto committed nine fouls and received one yellow card, while Nashville committed 10 fouls and were not booked. The visitors were caught offside six times, compared with once for Toronto.
The result marked a rare setback for Nashville, which entered the match atop the Eastern Conference with 53 points from 23 games, a record of 16 wins, five draws and two losses. Nashville, in position for an MLS playoff berth, had won four straight matches, with a form line of DWWWW, and boasted a plus-30 goal difference on 47 goals scored and 17 conceded.
Toronto, meanwhile, sits 11th in the Eastern Conference with 26 points from 23 matches on a record of five wins, 11 draws and seven losses. The hosts came in with a form line of DDWDW and a goal difference of minus-6, having scored 36 times and allowed 42.
Toronto made five substitutions across the match, also introducing Dorsch in the 70th minute and Josh Sargent in the 75th. Nashville used four changes, bringing on Elias Saad in the 66th minute, Edvard Sandvik Tagseth and Daniel Lovitz in the 74th, and Cristian Espinoza in the 87th.
The late winner from Aristizábal, who had entered as a substitute, capped a spirited response from the hosts against the conference’s runaway leaders.
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