CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Orlando City SC's Facundo Torres scored a match-tying goal off a corner kick to leave Charlotte FC with its fifth draw of the season.
Torres' score came in the 81st minute of the match, just minutes after Charlotte FC took a 2-1 lead with a goal from Brandt Bronico. The game ended in a 2-2 draw.
Charlotte (8-6-5) came into Wednesday's match fifth place in the MLS Eastern Conference standings and had a big chance to move up the board against the lowly Orlando (4-8-6).
Kerwin Vargas got Charlotte started early with an opportunistic goal in the 11th minute. A hard-charging Liel Abada forced the ball into the box before passing it back through a wall of Orlando defenders. The Orlando defense whiffed on the ball, allowing Vargas to make an easy strike at the goal.
Charlotte played one man down after Scott Arfield received a red card for a bad tackle on Orlando's Felipe Martins. Arfield was initially not penalized until a VAR decision resulted in the red card. It's the first red card of the season for Charlotte FC.
Charlotte held on 1-0 until the second half when Orlando's Duncan McGuire squeezed the ball into the net after taking a headed pass from a teammate.
Brandt Bronico gave Charlotte the lead back after Patrick Agyemang found himself behind most of Orlando's defense with the ball. Agyemang passed the ball to a wide-open Bronico, who easily finished the job with a score.
Orlando evened things up just minutes later with a strike from Torres to lock the match at 2-2.
Charlotte remains fifth in the MLS Eastern Conference with the draw -- Charlotte is level on points with New York City FC but is beaten on goal differential 6-1. As of Wednesday, Charlotte has played two fewer games than NYC FC and three more games than Columbus Crew, who are sixth in the conference.