Luka Gavran Becomes Third Goalkeeper in MLS History to Score, Rescues Toronto FC in 3-3 Draw With Union

Somewhere inside every goalkeeper lives a frustrated center forward. Luka Gavran let his out on Wednesday night. With Toronto FC trailing the Philadelphia Union deep in stoppage time, the 6-foot-6 Canadian ran the length of BMO Field for one last set piece, rose to meet Alonso Coello's cross and headed home an equalizer in the 96th minute.

Toronto FC and the Union drew 3-3, and the finish put Gavran in a very small club. He is just the third goalkeeper in MLS history to score a goal, according to MLS, and the first since William Hesmer did it for the Columbus Crew against Toronto on Oct. 16, 2010. A draw has no winner, but one locker room walked out feeling like it had found cash in an old coat, and the other felt like it had left its wallet on the bus.

Philly Builds a Cushion

The Union nearly struck first in the 8th minute, when Frankie Westfield bent a direct free kick off the right post. Toronto then settled into long spells of possession without much bite. Walker Zimmerman's header off a Coello cross was blocked in the 27th minute, and José Cifuentes sent a shot just past the top right corner moments later.

Philadelphia punished all that sterile possession right before the break. In the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, Jovan Lukic found Milan Iloski, who drilled a right-footed shot from the right side of the box into the bottom left corner. The Union said it was Iloski's first league goal of the season, and the timing could not have been crueler for the hosts.

It got better for the visitors in the 52nd minute. Danley Jean Jacques beat Gavran with a left-footed finish into the top right corner, a goal the AP described as a Toronto clearance deflecting off him at the corner of the box. Lucky or not, it counts the same on the scoreboard, and Philadelphia suddenly had a two-goal lead on the road.

Eight Minutes That Flipped the Script

Toronto needed four minutes to start the comeback. Dániel Sallói fed Josh Sargent on the left side of the box in the 56th minute, and Sargent, who split two defenders according to the AP, finished into the bottom right corner past Andre Blake.

Eight minutes later, Cifuentes threaded a through ball to Kobe Franklin, who scored from the right side of the box. Two goals in eight minutes, a 2-2 game, and a crowd of 15,461 that suddenly sounded twice that size.

Union head coach Bradley Carnell went to his bench in the 65th minute, sending on Alejandro Bedoya for Indiana Vassilev. The move paid off in the 89th minute. Off a corner, Bedoya won the first header and nodded it on, and Nathan Harriel headed in from very close range for a 3-2 Philadelphia lead. The Union were moments from their first win since April 11 in Montréal.

A Wave From the Bench

Then came the sequence nobody at BMO Field will forget. Toronto won a free kick on the left wing in the sixth minute of stoppage time, and Gavran checked with his sideline before committing.

"I think there were 10 seconds left. I looked to the bench, and everyone was waving me down to go, so I was like, you know what?" Gavran told the MLS 360 studio crew.

Jonathan Osorio had already headed one wide from a Cifuentes delivery in that same minute. Then Coello swung in another cross, and Gavran, standing in the center of the box like he had been there all night, headed it into the bottom right corner. Bedlam.

"I can't even remember what happened," he said afterward. Fair enough. Most of the building probably can't either.

A Stat Line for the Museum

Gavran's stat line belongs in a museum: one shot, one goal, two saves. He also leaned on the training ground for his explanation. "We do set pieces every day, so you know I'm used to it," he said, which is the most goalkeeper sentence imaginable from a man who just scored.

Cifuentes was Toronto's engine, with two shots and the through ball for Franklin's equalizer. Sargent scored on two attempts, and Sallói added the assist on that goal to go with a 16th-minute yellow card.

For Philadelphia, Harriel was everywhere. The Union credited him with a first-half block on Zimmerman's header, and he later scored the would-be winner on one of his two shots. He also committed six fouls, the most of anyone on the field, which tells you how much defending he did against a Toronto side that lived on the ball.

Bedoya changed the game off the bench with his assist, then picked up a yellow card in stoppage time. Lukic found Iloski in stride with a pass in transition, per the Union, before both men left in the 82nd minute. Iloski finished with two shots and the goal.

The Numbers Behind the Madness

• Possession: Toronto 63.9 percent, Philadelphia 36.1 percent.
• Shots: 12 apiece, with the Union putting five on target to Toronto's four.
• Passing: Toronto completed 410 of 503 passes; Philadelphia completed 189 of 274.
• Interceptions: Philadelphia 14, Toronto 5.
• Cards: Four yellows for each side, eight in all.

Seven Unbeaten for Toronto, Three for Philly

Toronto moves to 3-4-2 with 13 points. According to the AP, the draw stretched Toronto's unbeaten run to seven games after it opened the season with back-to-back losses, and the club has now gone 13 home outings without a loss, a run dating to June 25, 2025. It was also Toronto's second straight 3-3 draw, after Saturday's slugfest with Austin FC. Atlanta United visits BMO Field on Saturday.

Philadelphia sits at 1-2-6 with 5 points. A team that lost its first six matches is now unbeaten in three, with a win at Montréal followed by draws against D.C. United and Toronto. That is progress, even if Wednesday will sting for a while. The road trip continues Saturday at Columbus, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET, per the Union.

Every Keeper's Secret Dream

Philadelphia will spend the trip to Ohio replaying one final set piece, frame by painful frame. Toronto will be replaying something else entirely, probably on a loop. Gavran summed up the whole night better than any of us could: "I used to be a No. 9, you know!" For one header on a Wednesday in April, he was one again.

Stats from ESPN's match data and the AP recap via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by MLS (mlssoccer.com); additional match details from the Philadelphia Union (philadelphiaunion.com).