Toronto FC beat CF Montreal 2-1 at BMO Field on Saturday in the Canadian Classique.
The sharpest detail is how late it all happened, with both Toronto goals arriving in stoppage time and the winner coming only 116 seconds after the equalizer.
A Derby That Looked Lost For 92 Minutes
For most of the afternoon, this was Montreal’s game to close out. Daniel Rios scored in the 52nd minute, converting a rebound after Toronto goalkeeper William Yarbrough saved Matty Longstaff’s effort, and that single goal held up deep into added time. Toronto had also been forced into an early change in goal, with starting goalkeeper Luka Gavran leaving in the 23rd minute with a leg injury, which brought Yarbrough on for his Toronto FC debut in relief.
A debut in a derby, behind a team chasing a goal, is a difficult assignment, and Yarbrough’s save on Longstaff, even though Rios finished the rebound, kept Toronto within one goal instead of two. That margin mattered all the way to the end. At 1-0, Toronto needed one moment to change the mood at BMO Field. At 2-0, the stoppage time surge that followed would only have been a consolation.
Two Substitutes, Two Crosses, 116 Seconds
Substitute Lewis Morgan equalized in the 93rd minute, finishing with a left footed volley from a Niklas Dorsch cross. It was Morgan’s first goal for Toronto since joining the club in September, and it arrived with the match almost out of time. BMO Field had barely settled from that goal when Toronto scored again.
Substitute Djordje Mihailovic scored the winner in the 95th minute from Theo Corbeanu’s low cross, 116 seconds after Morgan had tied it. Mihailovic was returning from a hamstring injury in his first appearance since Sept. 5, and he scored it against his former club, which gave the celebration an extra edge. After the game, he said:
“Now I’ve scored on both sides of this derby. It feels good.” Djordje Mihailovic, via MLSSoccer.com
Two substitutes decided the match, and both goals came from wide service, one a Dorsch cross met on the volley and the other a Corbeanu ball swept home from close range. For another Canadian soccer finish decided late in Montreal, see Smith Rescues Canada In Draw With Denmark, and for the last big afternoon at this same stadium, read Whyte Boots Lions Past Argonauts.
By The Numbers
- Final score: Toronto FC 2, CF Montreal 1, at BMO Field on Oct. 10 in the 401 Derby
- Daniel Rios opened the scoring for Montreal in the 52nd minute
- Lewis Morgan equalized in the 93rd minute, his first Toronto goal since joining in September
- Djordje Mihailovic scored the winner in the 95th minute, 116 seconds after the equalizer
- Luka Gavran left in the 23rd minute with a leg injury; William Yarbrough made his Toronto debut in relief
- Toronto moved to 7-10-11 for 32 points
There is a reason derby comebacks carry more weight than ordinary league wins. Supporters plan their season around these fixtures, and a 2-1 result built on a 93rd minute equalizer and a 95th minute winner gives Toronto’s side of the rivalry a story it can retell for years. It also rewards the choices made from the bench. Both scorers were substitutes, both finishes came from crosses, and both arrived after Montreal had spent the second half protecting a single goal. When a game plan that cautious collapses in stoppage time, the losing side is left with nothing, and the winning side takes the points, the rivalry edge and the memory all at once.
What The Comeback Protects
The result extends Toronto’s unbeaten run against Montreal to six MLS meetings, with four wins and two draws since May 2024. Derby runs like that are built on ordinary results as much as dramatic ones, but a finish like this is the one supporters remember, because it protects the run in the most unlikely way possible, from a losing position in the 93rd minute.
It also changes the story of two players at once. Morgan has his first Toronto goal, and it is an equalizer in a derby. Mihailovic, back from injury and facing the club he used to represent in this fixture, has the winner. Toronto leaves BMO Field with 32 points and a 7-10-11 record, but the table is not what anyone will talk about after this one. Two goals in stoppage time, 116 seconds apart, turned a quiet defeat into the loudest finish of Toronto FC’s season at home.
