LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena was thrilled his side were able to come back from two goals down to force a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC on Wednesday night.
The reigning MLS champions found themselves in an unfamiliar position after just 17 minutes of the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Rogers Center when Luis Silva added to Ryan Johnson's 12th minute opener.
But the Galaxy responded through Mike Magee just prior to the half-hour mark before Landon Donovan grabbed an 89th minute leveler to put them in a strong position ahead of the return leg at The Home Depot Center on March 14.
Arena admits it could have been easy for his side to fall further behind but praised their character for coming back and saving the two-legged tie.
"The point is huge because going back to LA next Wednesday, we're in a decent position. It's not perfect but it's not bad.""This is a game where you can come up with a bunch of excuses not to get any kind of result but they hung in there and showed a lot of character," Arena said after the match.
And Arena also heaped praise on Donovan for his match-saving performance.
"Landon played well," Arena added. "He was dangerous most of the day. He created a bunch of chances for us, obviously got that second goal and it was his ball on the first goal as well."