Jermain Defoe penalty earns point for Toronto

Jul 17, 2014 at 1am UK

Defoe (72' pen.)

FT(HT: 0-0)

Jermain Defoe's penalty earns Toronto a point as they play out a 1-1 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps.

Published: July 17 2014 | 03:01

Last updated: July 17 2014 | 08:17

Jermain Defoe's penalty secured a point for Toronto as they played out a frustrating 1-1 draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps at BMO Field.

Toronto should have been ahead in just the third minute, but Doneil Henry wasted his opportunity after finding space as he headed straight at David Ousted.

Mark Bloom's inch-perfect delivery for Defoe looked likely to result in a goal before the former Tottenham Hotspur forward fired wide from just inside the box.

Vancouver were restricted to long-range efforts for most of the first half, and they were fortunate to go into the break level after Luke Moore had seen a powerful header pushed away by Ousted.

The visitors returned with renewed confidence in the second half, and the deadlock was broken in the 50th minute when Vancouver forward Darren Mattocks collected a clever pass from Russell Teibert before firing past a helpless Joe Bendik.

Toronto found the equaliser their superiority deserved just 14 minutes after falling behind when Nigel Reo-Coker brought down Jackson inside the box, allowing Defoe to confidently drill the ball home from 12 yards.

Jackson was inches away from making another vital contribution moments later, but his strike from a tight angle was tipped away by Ousted.

The home side looked most likely to find a winner in the closing stages, but a stubborn defensive display late on allowed Vancouver to secure a draw.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21