Jozy Altidore made a scoring comeback for Toronto FC but on their return to BMO field his team had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Orlando City SC on Saturday night.
After being frozen out under Chris Armas, Altidore came off the bench for his first appearance in nearly two months and found the back of the net just eight minutes later, in the 72nd minute. But the lead was short lived as Orlando leveled just five minutes after going behind through a Nani penalty.
The result means Toronto have now taken four points from two games under interim coach Javier Perez but it looked like it was going to be more when Altidore struck. The US striker rose tall in the area and headed home a cross from Justin Morrow to cap what looked like being a dream return to Canada for Toronto after having to play on the road throughout the end of 2020 and start of 2021.
But Orlando will feel their play warranted an equalizer that came just minutes later. From a long ball over the top of the Toronto defense, Benji Michel was adjudged to have been brought down by goalkeeper Alex Bono with a penalty confirmed after a Video Review. And Nani, who came close to opening the scoring early on from a free-kick, found the back of the net from the spot.
Three Things
- BIG PICTURE: Neither side are likely to be too disappointed with the result in this one. Toronto keep their upward momentum going under interim coach Javier Perez and have Jozy Altidore back and scoring. Orlando, meanwhile, bounced back from going behind to secure a valuable point on the road and remain among the front-runners in the Eastern Conference.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Is there any debate? Jozy is back.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: This could go to Altidore as well, but we'll go Jeferson Soteldo. The Venezuelan was a joy to watch and showed that he can be a true force in MLS.
Next up
- TOR: Wednesday, July 21 vs. New York Red Bulls | 7:30 pm ET | TSN, MLS LIVE on ESPN+
- ORL: Thursday, July 22 vs. Philadelphia Union | 7:30 pm ET | ESPN, ESPN Deportes
