Philadelphia Union rally with two late goals to defeat Toronto FC 2-1

By Canadian Press on May 28, 2025.

TORONTO — Kai Wagner set up the tying goal and scored the winner as the Philadelphia Union rallied late to down Toronto FC 2-1 in MLS play Wednesday, extending its unbeaten run to 10 games in all competitions.

After Nathan Harriel rose high to head home a Wagner corner in the 87th minute, Wagner broke TFC fans’ hearts with a 92nd-minute shot that deflected in off Toronto midfielder Matty Longstaff.

Ola Brynhildsen had given Toronto the lead, roofing a shot in the 75th minute. It was an emphatic finish with the Norwegian forward, who had been taking a beating from Philadelphia all evening, outpacing two defenders to get to a long ball from Deybi Flores for his second goal of the season.

It was a scrappy stop-and-start game with a lot of whistles from referee Guido Gonzales Jr. The visitors spent much of the first half in Toronto’s end, on a cool, damp evening with plenty of empty seats at BMO Field.

Attendance was announced at 14,490, only slightly higher than the season low of 14,019 for the 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on May 14.

The Union outshot Toronto 7-4 (3-1 in shots on target) in a first half that was as drab as the weather. Both teams had a passing completion rate in the low 70s.

The second half wasn’t much better until Brynhidsen’s strike and the Union’s late heroics.

Philadelphia (10-3-3) arrived atop the Eastern Conference, 13 places and 17 points ahead of Toronto — and trailing the Vancouver Whitecaps by one point in the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Union are now unbeaten in eight matches (6-0-2) in league play and 10 in all competitions (8-0-2), dating back to a 1-0 defeat April 12 at New York City FC.

After starting the campaign at 0-4-4, Toronto (3-9-4) has gone 3-5-0 and came into the game eight points out of a playoff spot. Since posting its first victory of the season April 19 in Salt Lake, the club has lost, lost, won, lost, won, lost and lost in league play.

The game was Toronto’s 300th regular-season home game in club history with TFC 123-98-79, good for 448 points. Saturday’s home game against Nashville was Toronto’s 600th regular-season outing.

With Toronto playing its sixth game in 25 days, coach Robin Fraser made seven changes to the starting lineup that lost 2-1 last weekend. Only goalkeeper Sean Johnson, winger Theo Corbeanu, Flores and Brynhildsen retained their places.

Captain Jonathan Osorio, who came off the bench Saturday in his return from a shoulder injury, started for the first time since April 30. Defenders Henry Wingo, Raoul Petretta and Zane Monlouis also were back in the starting lineup.

Toronto was still missing injured defenders Nicksoen Gomis and Kobe Franklin, along with forward Deandre Kerr. Star winger Federico Bernardeschi and defender Kosi Thompson were both suspended for yellow card accumulation.

Recovered from a knee injury, Andre Blake was back in goal for Philadelphia. The 34-year-old Jamaican international, a three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, had missed the last six games.

Johnson was called into action in the 12th minute, making an acrobatic save on an equally acrobatic Bruno Damiani volley.

Toronto’s first shot on goal came in the 43rd minute when Blake got a foot to Osorio’s close-range redirect from an accurate cross from Derrick Etienne Jr. Brynhildsen’s attempted volley seconds later went over the bar.

Johnson stopped Jesús Bueno’s low shot in stoppage time. And the TFC ‘keeper handled a long-range shot from substitute Danley Jean Jacques in the 69th minute.

TFC was unbeaten in its last three meetings with Philadelphia (2-0-1) and had a 14-11-8 edge (including 10-3-4 at BMO Field) in career regular-season meetings. The Union last won in Toronto in May 2019.

Up Next: Toronto hosts Charlotte FC on Saturday while Philadelphia plays at FC Dallas.