Lassi Lappalainen scored on the last shot of the match to help CF Montreal escape with a 1-1 draw against the visiting Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.
Lappalainen scored the equalizer in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time with a direct strike from the top edge of the box after a corner from Mathieu Choiniere.
The draw helped Montreal (11-16-5, 38 points) keep its playoff hopes alive with just two matches remaining.
Houston (12-11-9, 45 points) inched closer to securing a playoff berth.
Montreal had a pair of solid opportunities early on thanks to Romell Quioto.
In the first minute, the Honduran striker was stopped by Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark, and in the fourth, he had time and space from the left side of the 18-yard box, but his header went straight into the hands of Clark.
After spending much of the opening minutes in the defensive third, the Dynamo made quick work of their first foray into the attacking end.
Ibrahim Aliyu took the ball after a turnover by Fernando Alvarez along the right flank. Aliyu sent a cross from down low into the area for Sebastian Kowalczyk, who quickly dished a short pass to Artur high in the box for a strike into the top of the net in the 10th minute for a 1-0 lead.
Montreal had a chance to draw level in the 15th minute. Zachary Brault-Guillard directed a pass from outside the 18-yard box to Choiniere in front for a header that went just wide.
Houston nearly doubled its advantage in the 46th minute on a break by Aliyu, but his shot was blocked.
Sunusi Ibrahim, fresh off the bench, got his foot on the ball inside the 6-yard box in the 54th minute, but Clark got a leg out to keep the visitors in front. Three minutes later, Brault-Guillard set up Ibrahim for another attempt that missed to the right.
In the 59th minute, Houston’s Nelson Quinones tried to sneak his free kick inside the near post, but Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois dove to get his hands on it and deflect it away.
–Field Level Media
