Music: {allcanada} TOTTENHAM SCORES LATE GOAL TO EDGE TORONTO FC IN FRIENDLY

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TORONTO -- Winger Andros Townsend scored in the 85th minute to give Tottenham a 3-2 win over Toronto FC in a soccer friendly Wednesday that saw Toronto striker Jermain Defoe go up against his old English team.

Andrew Wiedeman and Canadian teenager Jordan Hamilton had scored second-half goals to pull the home side even before a sellout crowd of 22,591 at BMO Field. But Lewis Holtby played provider, driving towards goal but finding Townsend who curled a shot past Quillan Roberts, another homegrown teenager.

It was a game of two halves, with Argentine midfielder Erik Lamela scoring twice for Tottenham in the first and Toronto answering back in a far more competitive and entertaining second after the teams combined for 17 changes at the break.

Defoe wore the captain's armband but got virtually no service from his teammates and found himself having to take up the role of playmaker to get something going. The England striker was substituted at halftime, one of seven changes by manager Ryan Nelsen. Veteran Dwayne De Rosario took over as captain.

On a night where he was on the marquee, Defoe was largely on the outside looking in.

Spurs controlled the first 45 minutes against a makeshift Toronto lineup, controlling possession for long stretches and then dispossessing Toronto when the home side got it back. Tottenham outshot Toronto 10-0 (3-0 in shots on target) in the first 45 minutes.

Toronto, with six Canadians on the field, had a much stronger start to the second half and Wiedeman cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 65th minute. Rookie winger Daniel Lovitz, one of the bright spots for Toronto, made the goal by pouncing on a Tottenham turnover and driving towards goal before opening up the defence with a through ball to Wiedeman.

Hamilton tied it up in the 73rd minute, capping off passes from Nick Hagglund and Wiedeman with a clinical left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty box. The 18-year-old striker from Toronto has been playing for the Wilmington Hammerheads of the USL Pro league this season.

Canadian midfielder Kyle Bekker came close earlier in the second half, shooting just wide of 43-year-old American 'keeper Brad Friedel.

Defoe, 31, played 362 times in two stints with Tottenham before departing for Toronto FC in January. He scored 142 goals for Spurs, fifth on the club's career scoring list. Ironically Defoe just hit No. 5 on Toronto FC's all-time MLS scoring chart with 11 goals in 14 MLS games -- evidence of the franchise's past scoring woes.

Lamela, who had one goal in a disappointing injury-shortened 2013-14 season, was one of 10 players withdrawn at halftime by Tottenham. The 22-year-old former Roma player reportedly cost Spurs a club-record 30 million pounds (C$55 million).

Spurs opened their pre-season last Saturday with a 3-3 tie with the Seattle Sounders before 55,349 at CenturyLink Field. Their North American trip wraps up with a Sunday game in Chicago against the MLS Fire.

The game came at an inopportune time for Toronto, squeezed between league games against Houston and Sporting Kansas City and in a month packed with eight contests.

But one wonders how more entertaining and competitive the match might have had Toronto started its strongest roster.

Toronto, already missing defenders Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom and Brazilian winger Jackson through injury, essentially fielded just four regulars -- defender Doneil Henry, midfielders Dominic Oduro and Collen Warner, and Defoe -- in its starting 11. Goalie Joe Bendik didn't dress and star midfielder Michael Bradley started on the bench.

Goalie Chris Konopka, defenders Jeremy Hall and Ashtone Morgan and midfielder Lovitz have a combined two MLS starts between them this season.

Konopka's MLS log reads two games in five seasons with four teams and he looked rusty. The 29-year-old was replaced by 19-year-old Roberts, who has also been playing for Wilmington.

Roberts, who has yet to see MLS action but has now played against Roma, Liverpool and Tottenham, made several good saves.

The Spurs starting 11 included the newly signed Ben Davies (acquired from Swansea City) as well as fellow defenders Younes Kabul and Kyle Naughton, midfielders Aaron Lennon, Lamela and Christian Eriksen, and 26-million-pound (C$47.5 million) striker Roberto Soldado.

The Spurs starters came from eight different countries while Toronto's starters drew from five countries including three from Canada (Henry, Morgan and Bekker).

Tottenham had three English starters to two for Toronto.

Tottenham stroked the ball around the park and disposessing the green Toronto team. Two Toronto players were nutmegged within the first 8 1/2 minutes -- although De Rosario returned the favour in the second half.

Defoe was starved of the ball early on but showed his class via a slick through ball to Oduro that ended in an offside.

Lamela opened the scoring in the 15th minute on a pass from Soldado and a nice dummy from Lennon that froze the defence. The Argentine midfielder, who showed his flair from the get-go, then beat Konopka with an angled shot into the corner.

Lamela made it 2-0 in the 39th minute from a similar spot after slick passing from Lennon and Soldado slcied open the home defence.

Davies brought Defoe down with a crunching tackle just before the end of the first half.

The game was part of the marketing partnership struck between the two clubs as part of Defoe's transfer deal. Stadium merchandise booths sold both Toronto and Tottenham gear.

Tottenham finished sixth in the Premier League last season with a 21-11-6 record. It kicks off this season Aug. 16 at West Ham.

NOTES: Earlier in the day, Tottenham announced the signings of Davies and goalkeeper Michel Vorm from Swansea City. Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson went the other way ... Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and representatives from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment opened the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

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