Tosaint Ricketts scored a dramatic late winner as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated Toronto FC 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at BC Place.
Ricketts tucked the ball past goalkeeper Alex Bono in the 90th minute after fellow substitute Lucas Cavallini broke past his defender to fire a pass across the face of the goal.
The Whitecaps held on over six minutes of injury time to end a three-game losing streak.
Jayden Nelson thought he had bagged the opener in the 66th minute after Whitecaps goalkeeper Thomas Hasal spilled a shot from Toronto’s Alejandro Pozuelo.
But the goal was called back for a foul on Hasal, who left the match after the sequence with an injury to his left hand.
Substitute goalkeeper Cody Cropper was immediately forced into action after the restart. He made a diving save to deny Jordan Perruzza.
Pozuelo had the best chance of the first half for Toronto after a video review flagged a handball in the box by Ranko Veselinovic. His shot from the penalty spot in the 35th minute was handled by Hasal.
The save seemed to spark the Whitecaps. Six minutes later, Deiber Caicedo fired a shot from just outside the 18-yard-box that was punched away by Bono.
Nelson followed that up at the other end with a free look from 12 yards out, only to clip it over the net.
Both teams took time to find their rhythm in the opening 15 minutes with little movement off the ball.
Vancouver (2-6-1) next faces off against Valour FC on Wednesday in the Canadian Championship. Toronto (3-6-2) returns home to play Orlando City at BMO Field.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2022.
The Canadian Press
