TORONTO — Most eight-goal games are entertaining.
Few hold a candle to this 4-4 tie between Toronto FC and D.C. United, which ended with the two teams exchanging last-minute goals after the hosts had erased a 3-0 deficit.
Yamil Asad, Paul Arriola and Darren Mattocks had Ben Olsen’s team cruising at half time, and TFC in a state of meltdown. But once Jonathan Osorio had eaten into the lead, the comeback was on — and Victor Vázquez and Nick Hagglund had completed it by the 86th minute.
Or so it seemed. D.C., it turned out, had time to go up the other end and score a fourth, with Asad pouncing again, only for Toronto to win a corner and Hagglund to head home his second in the ensuing scramble.
For a TFC team outside the Eastern Conference playoff spots and in need of home points, interpretations of the game and all its ups and downs differed.
“Wild game,” said Reds coach Greg Vanney. “But given the way it started, can’t be too picky about taking a point out of this one. It was a crazy game. It reminded me just a touch of the game about a week ago in Columbus, where we’re on the other side of it. But it was a good fight from our guys in the second half. We have to continue to build on that.”
Vanney’s captain, Michael Bradley, appeared more downbeat.
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“In a lot of ways, just not being good enough,” Bradley said of the difference between the two halves. “I don’t have a whole lot more than that right now. It’s a crazy night. Obviously, in the first half we were so poor. The second half is a decent response, but these are games that we should win.”
While TFC deserve praise for their comeback, it is hard to overstate just how badly Vanney’s team spiralled before the interval. D.C. deserves plenty of credit for its part in that, of course, with the midfield duo of Arriola and Luciano Acosta particularly impressive. In the 12th minute, they drew Bradley and Hagglund into a trap that saw Acosta spin away into space and square for Asad to open the scoring.
Arriola quickly got in on the action himself. A counter attack that followed a Toronto corner saw Zoltan Stieber produce an outstanding cross that the U.S. international met with an equally impressive headed finish.
TFC goalkeeper Alex Bono denied Arriola another in a one-on-one situation but D.C. got its third on the stroke of half time. Darren Mattocks robbed Eriq Zavaleta on the edge of his own box and Acosta was able to hold Bradley off long enough for Mattocks to slam the ball past Bono from close range. It was the visitors’ eighth shot in target, which matched Toronto’s total for the entire game.
D.C. has not won enough games over the past year, though, for the lead not to appear fragile after Osorio’s first-time finish to convert a Ryan Telfer cross in the 56th minute.
TFC was totally dominant from that point onwards. When Acosta was substituted for a defensive midfielder — Júnior Moreno — he made his displeasure at the decision known to Olsen, refusing to shake the coach’s hand. Acosta appeared to have a point when Vázquez made it 3-2 minutes later, pouncing on the rebound of a vicious Sebastian Giovinco shot that hit the post.
Vanney still required a last roll of the dice: he moved the springy Hagglund from center back into attack.
It worked. Hagglund rose to nod in a cross from Justin Morrow, who made his return from injury as a sub and was an influential presence. Then, he jumped again to pummel a chipped Osorio ball into the net.
“With five minutes left in the game, Greg told me to abandon center back and head forward,” Hagglund said. “I just got on their backs and waited for some great balls.”
But in between his two goals, D.C. had launched virtually its only attack of the second half — and scored. It was Asad again, in the 90th minute, and the celebrations reflected a feeling that he had surely won the game. Not on this night.
“It’s tough to get a hold of your thoughts after a match like that,” Olsen said, summing up for both teams.