22 February 2025: A game in which the home side was the more threatening one for much of the evening ending in heartbreak when Fernando Bernardeschi curled one into the top corner from the edge of the area in the sixth minute of second-half injury time to snatch an away win for Toronto FC.
A slow start to the match (only three shots on goal in the first half-hour) suddenly tuned in the visitors' favor when Jonathan Osorio found Deybi Flores cutting into space down the channel in the 37th minute, and the Honduran midfielder made no mistake as he rolled the ball into the corner beyond the reach of Kim Joonhong to give Toronto the lead at the break.
Frustration seemed to be building for DC, still scoreless despite an eventual 8-0 edge in corner kicks that belied the relative quality of their possession, and a pair of yellow cards followed midway in the second half. DC, though, seemed to take some energy from the indignation and five minutes after being shown the card Jacob Murrell had beaten his defender off the turn and Sean Johnson to the far post to bring United back to even par. Two minutes later, Johnson was forced to parry Randall Leal's chance and it appeared as if United were pressing to get full points.
But it was Toronto FC who had the better of the final minutes of regulation, and Joonhong was forced to full stretch to keep Alonso Coello's free kick out of the net in the 95th minute. This was only postponing DC's fate, however, as possession stayed in the DC end for the waning minutes of play and Bernardeschi found enough space after dribbling across the top of the box to power the match-winner into the top shelf and disappoint (again) the Opening Day crowd at Audi Field. FINAL: DC United 1:2 Toronto FC.
Contribution to the Facebook co-op replay . . .
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| Bernardeschi grabs the match-winner for Toronto at the last gasp |
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