Austin FC forward Gyasi Zardes was named to the Major League Soccer (MLS) Team of the Matchday bench after scoring the only goal in the Club’s 1-0 home win over Toronto FC on Saturday night at Q2 Stadium. Zardes earns his first Team of the Matchday selection of the 2023 season.
Zardes entered Saturday’s match as a 64th-minute substitute as Austin pushed in search of a goal to break the scoreless deadlock. In the first minute of stoppage time, he reacted quickest to Nick Lima’s shot which rebounded off the crossbar, heading the ball into the top corner to win the match for the Verde & Black in dramatic fashion.
The goal was Zardes’ second game-winner of the week, following another header he scored last Wednesday night in the team’s 2-1 away victory against Seattle. Those tallies were the 25th and 26th game-winners of his career, ranking second-most among active MLS players. Zardes also ranks 13th on the league’s all-time scoring list with 99 career goals.
