Agyemang rallies Charlotte to 3-2 victory over Toronto

Patrick Agyemang scored in the 85th minute to help Charlotte FC pull out a 3-2 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday night.

Agyemang used an assist from Brecht Dejaegere to score his second goal this season and the third of his career. Agyemang has made five starts and 19 appearances over two seasons with Charlotte (3-3-2), which extended its unbeaten run at home to 13 matches dating to last season.

Charlotte grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute and took it into halftime after Kerwin Vargas used an assist from Enzo Copetti to drill a right-footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner of the net. It was the first goal this season for Vargas and the first assist for Copetti, who had six goals and two assists as a rookie last year.

Toronto (3-4-1) pulled even early in the second half when Prince Owusu scored in the 49th minute on a left-footed shot from close range. Federico Bernardeschi notched an assist. Owusu, who subbed in for Deandre Kerr is the 46th minute, made three starts and six appearances last season. He has four starts and eight appearances this season.

Charlotte grabbed a 2-1 lead in the 70th minute when defender Jaylin Lindsey set up the first career goal for 22-year-old Liel Abada, who was making his second start and third appearance.

Owusu’s third goal of the season and his career evened the score in the 78th minute. Toronto lost defender Kevin Long to a red card in the eighth minute of stoppage time to close out the match.

Kristijan Kahlina finished with three saves for Charlotte, which is 3-0-1 at home this season. Kahlina had two saves to keep Toronto off the scoreboard in the first half.

Sean Johnson stopped two shots for Toronto, which falls to 3-2-1 all time versus Charlotte.

Toronto, in its first season with John Herdman at the helm, beat Charlotte and first-year coach Dean Smith 1-0 at home in the third match of the season. Lorenzo Insigne scored the only goal in the victory but an injury kept him out of the rematch.

Toronto returns home to play the New England Revolution on Saturday. Charlotte will host Minnesota United on Sunday.

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