August 9, 2024

Chester, PA

Saturday evening’s game against Toronto F.C. commenced with optimism. Going into the game, Philadelphia sat in first place in the MLS East, while Toronto F.C. was in twelfth place. Yet when the final whistle blew, Philadelphia walked away with a 1-1 draw. This result in all likelihood disappointed Philadelphia fans, but the outcome did not alter either the team’s respective places on the MLS table.

Following a familiar trend, Philadelphia — with its press — scored early. In the 4th minute, a lovely passing sequence landed at the feet of Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo, who then passed past Bruno Daminani directly onto Indiana Vassilev. Vassilev sprinted unimpeded to the Toronto goal and easily shot left past the Toronto keeper, Luka Gavran.

Philadelphia controlled much of the first and into the second half. Baribo’s goal in the 55th minute, which was ruled offside and rescinded, kept the score at 1-0 in Philadelphia’s favor until late in the game. Coach Bradley Carnell later admitted that the let down from the disallowed goal impacted Philadelphia’s play. Still leading the meeting 1-0, Philadelphia “got caught chasing the game” something that the team didn’t need to chase.

There was some surprise when the second half stoppage time was adjudged to be 10 minutes, and Philadelphia’s defense seemed to lull at just that time. At the 91st minute, Toronto’s Malik Henry passed left from the right wing area. The pass easily reached Toronto’s Deandre Kerr, who headed the ball down to bounce up into the top left corner of the Philadelphia goal. With that late goal, the score was leveled at 1-1.

Looking forward to the last of the upcoming games, Philadelphia will need to guard against late goals that could alter the outcome of the season.

Photographs of the game appear below:

Philadelphia’s Quinn Sullivan has provided an offensive spark throughout the season.Here, Sullivan presses past Toronto’s Raoul Petretta.

Toronto’s Maxine Dominguez holds back Philadelphia’s Nathan Harriel. Philadelphia’s Kai Wagner leaping to stop Toronto’s Kevin Long.Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo disagrees with a no-call after being brought down by his ankles.