Walker Zimmerman's First Toronto FC Goal Seals 2-1 Comeback Win Over Columbus Crew

Walker Zimmerman is paid to keep goals out. On Saturday afternoon at BMO Field, he decided to score one instead, rising for a Djordje Mihailovic corner in the 83rd minute and glancing a header into the bottom left corner for his first goal in a Toronto FC shirt.

Toronto FC came from behind to beat the Columbus Crew 2-1, with José Cifuentes equalizing in the 56th minute before Zimmerman's late winner. It was Toronto's first home win of the 2026 MLS season, according to the club, and it lifted the Reds to 2-1-2 with seven points. Columbus fell to 0-2-3 and are still waiting for their first win.

Columbus Start Fast, Then Stall

The Crew could not have scripted a better opening. In the 4th minute, Dylan Chambost hit a long pass out to Max Arfsten on the left, and Arfsten's cross found Wessam Abou Ali, who headed it into the top right corner. The Crew's own site called it vintage Black and Gold, and for a few minutes it looked like the start of a statement afternoon.

It was not. Toronto spent the rest of the half laying siege. Patrick Schulte saved from Josh Sargent, making his first start for the club, in the 6th minute. Raheem Edwards just cleared the bar from distance in the 23rd. Then came a flurry around the 40th minute: Sargent had a header blocked, Schulte tipped away a sharp Edwards effort from the left side of the box, and Deandre Kerr headed wide from a corner. Dániel Sallói dragged a shot just wide before the break. The Reds took ten corners on the day, and many of them came in that first-half spell.

There was a milestone in the middle of it all. Captain Jonathan Osorio made his 400th appearance for Toronto across all competitions, which the club said made him the first player in its history to reach that number. Toronto added that he is the third player in MLS history to hit that milestone with one club, after Graham Zusi and Diego Chará.

Cifuentes Levels, Rossi Hits the Post

Robin Fraser sent on Mihailovic for Sargent at halftime, and that move would eventually pay off. First, though, Columbus nearly put the game away. In the 52nd minute, Diego Rossi broke through on a fast break and hit the left post. The Crew said the ball bounced straight into the arms of Luka Gavran.

Four minutes later, Toronto made them pay. Sallói whipped in a low cross and Cifuentes controlled and finished with his right foot into the bottom right corner. It was his first goal for Toronto, and the AP said it was his first MLS goal since July 12, 2023. Sallói's assist was his first for the club, and Toronto said he now has goal contributions in three straight MLS matches for the first time in his TFC career.

Cifuentes went off injured in the 75th minute, replaced by Malik Henry. The game was getting stretched, with Gavran saving from Andrés Herrera and the Crew earning corners. Then, in the 83rd minute, Schulte pushed a Mihailovic shot behind for a corner, Mihailovic swung it in, and Zimmerman met it with a glancing header. Toronto said it was Mihailovic's second assist in as many matches.

Columbus pushed in seven minutes of added time. Gavran stopped Abou Ali in the 85th minute and a Herrera header in stoppage time, and the Reds held on.

Who Delivered

Walker Zimmerman scored the winner on his only shot and was booked four minutes later, which is a full defender's afternoon in one sentence.

Dániel Sallói had the assist on the equalizer and two shots of his own. He was Toronto's most consistent attacking threat.

Djordje Mihailovic changed the game off the bench with the corner for the winner and a shot on target.

Luka Gavran made three saves, two of them in the closing stretch when Columbus were throwing everything forward.

For the Crew, Wessam Abou Ali scored and put two of his three shots on target, and Patrick Schulte made four saves.

The Turning Point

Rossi's shot off the post in the 52nd minute. At 2-0, Columbus would have been in total control. Instead, the ball dropped to Gavran and Toronto equalized four minutes later. Crew captain Sean Zawadzki called it "a game of inches sometimes," and he was right. He also knew the danger of dwelling on it: "If we hang our heads on that, it's only gonna make things worse."

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: Toronto 7, Columbus 4.
• Possession: Columbus had 55.4 percent of the ball.
• Corners: Toronto won 10 to Columbus' 7, and the winner came from one.
• Crosses: Toronto completed 10 of 25. Both goals came from crosses.
• Fouls: Columbus committed 20 to Toronto's 9.

What It Means

Toronto have now won two of their last three after losing their first two, and they finally gave the home fans a win. They host the Colorado Rapids on April 4 after the international break.

Columbus are in a rough patch. Counting from the season's results, they are winless in five and have lost two straight. Head coach Henrik Rydström did not sugarcoat it. "The game is quite bad, I would say," he said. "I don't think we deserved to win the game, for sure." He called himself "very disappointed of the performance and the result." Chambost, who started the opening goal, added: "We need to find this confidence. It's a tough period right now."

There was one historic footnote for the Crew. Nariman Akhundzada came off the bench in the 88th minute and, per the club, became the first Azerbaijani to play in MLS. Columbus visit Atlanta United on April 4.

The Last Word

Rydström said his team played "with the handbrake," and the image fits. Columbus started in fifth gear and then coasted, while Toronto kept pressing the accelerator. Zimmerman's header was the kind of goal a center back dreams about, and for a club that needed a home win, it arrived right on time.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by ColumbusCrew.com; additional details from the AP and TorontoFC.ca.