RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Inter Toronto vs. Vancouver FC | September 13, 2026

Inter Toronto remain in the hunt for the CPL Playoffs, after they defeated Vancouver FC 3-1 on Sunday at York Lions Stadium.

With the result, Toronto pulled to seven points behind the Eagles for the fourth and final postseason spot, and with two games in hand on Vancouver they'll have a serious chance to challenge for that place.

After a disappointing result midweek against Pacific, Inter Toronto responded well on Sunday against a different B.C. foe.

They came out of the gates strong, playing aggressively in the front and moving up the field with pace.

That said, there wasn't much in the way of serious scoring chances for either side through the first half-hour.

The hosts did break things open eventually, though.

Luca Accettola, who got the scoring started for Toronto on Wednesday as well, hit an audacious strike from well outside the box. The mob of defenders in the penalty area could do nothing but watch as Accettola's shot dipped perfectly to catch the underside of the crossbar and drop in the goal, giving Inter a lead.

"One thing that Luca has, and he's been showing it for a year and a half now, is he's a midfielder with goals," Inter Toronto head coach Mauro Eustáquio said of Accettola postmatch. "He's a midfielder that has a very good end product in the final third."

Accettola entered the match at halftime against Pacific midweek and scored a key equalizer a few minutes into his shift.

Toronto picked up where they left off after halftime in this game, too. Less than five minutes after the break, Tomasz Skublak doubled the lead as he danced through the box, keeping the ball deftly at his feet before rolling it in by the near post.

Skublak then created Toronto's third goal, curling a ball across the six-yard box that Vancouver keeper Callum Irving couldn't control, deflecting it behind him for an own goal.

Vancouver would strike back with about 20 minutes to play, as Thierno Bah snuck a ball past Inter keeper Kai Campos on the counter-attack. The Eagles generated a handful of good chances with their direct play through the final few minutes of the game, finishing with 13 shots (nine in the second half).

It was too little, too late for Vancouver, though; they couldn't climb out of the hole they'd put themselves in. Although Accettola's opening goal was, as VFC coach Martin Nash admitted, "a worldie," the following two were preventable.

"I don't think our quality was where it needed to be today," Nash said postmatch. "We gave a lot of easy balls away, we had moments in transition where we had numbers and we just didn't take advantage. I thought we had a sloppy start to the second half, which hurt us; two sloppy goals from our point of view, and you can't give sloppy goals away, especially on the road. Not ideal, but it's one we're going to have to put behind us quick."

Vancouver remain in control of their own destiny in fourth place, but they've now lost four of their last five games. Thankfully for them, their strong early-summer run has put them in a good position heading into the stretch, but they'll undoubtedly feel pressure to win next weekend when they travel to take on Pacific in a pivotal B.C. Derby.

For Inter Toronto, this was a profoundly important win for the club's mentality in the final six weeks of the season. Although it wasn't mathematically a must-win game, they knew that their playoff dream would be all but dead if they couldn't at least take some points off Vancouver, the club they're chasing for that spot.

Toronto boss Eustáquio, buoyed by the win, explained that the challenge now will be to find some consistency in their performances.

"We've had very good performances during the season, but our major issue has been the inconsistency. The good thing about this is even though it's not three wins in a row, these are three games that we continue to add points. There is a different mentality in the group because they know the responsibilities."

As Eustáquio said, it's now three games in a row unbeaten for Toronto. The next challenge for them is to keep that going in Halifax, which is always a tricky away venue in the CPL.

Starting XIs

Inter Toronto: Campos; Guzmán, Sturing, Singh, León, Kibato (Córdova 73'); Yeates, Accettola (Clarke 62'); Bassett (Bassett 90'), Skublak (Gonzáles 84'), Almagro (Ferrari 84')

Vancouver FC: Irving; Doner (Lucas 83'), Campagna, Field, Proctor (Gee 46'); Pecile (Ouattara 83'), Polisi (Lee 77'); Amissi, Mezquida (Toomey 59'), Bah; Mousset (Traore 77')

Goals

39' - Luca Accettola (Inter Toronto)
50' - Tomasz Skublak (Inter Toronto)
56' - Callum Irving (Vancouver FC) (Own Goal)
72' - Thierno Bah (Vancouver FC)

Discipline

27' - Yellow: Tomasz Skublak (Inter Toronto)
58' - Yellow: Thierno Bah (Vancouver FC)
78' - Yellow: Ty Clarke (Inter Toronto)