An likely name was the hero in the international friendly between English giants Manchester City and MLS side Toronto FC Wednesday night at BMO Field in southern Ontario. 

Young City academy player George Evans scored from way out in the dying minutes to lift the 2014 Premier League champions to a 1-0 victory. 

It wasn’t until that beautifully hit goal that it looked like City would win. As expected, the visiting side controlled most of the possession, but were unable to create many chances past a resilient TFC backline. 

The Citizens completed their 2015 campaign just 72 hours ago, and mixed with jet lag, tired legs were evident throughout the game. That led to several youth players getting the opportunity in a rare appearance with the first team to showcase their abilities. 

In an effort to maintain the fitness levels of several starters for the league game on Saturday against the San Jose Earthquakes, Toronto played a wealth of youngsters of their own, including Jay Chapman and Jordan Hamilton who play for Toronto FC II, the team’s USL outfit.

Toronto spent much of the first half chasing the ball, as the English side used some slick-passing from one side of the field to the other to keep their Canadian opponents pinned back. 

Argentine international Sergio Aguero was one of the main attractions of the night for the well-under sell-out crowd at BMO, but didn’t see action until the second half. His trademark run across the 18-yard-box came in 65th minute when he appeared to be fouled, but the referee waved any penalty claims off. 

The 19-year-old Hamilton had the best chance of the half for Toronto when he received a pass from Manny Aparicio, putting him in one-on-one with keeper Willy Caballero, putting it just wide of the far post. 

As City began to take off their stars and give the younger players a chance, Toronto pushed numbers forward and could sense a shot at goal. 

On a night with big names such as David Silva, Yaya Toure and Aguero himself on the field, Evans stepped up in the 85th minute from 35 yards and curled it into the top right corner over a sprawling Alex Bono in the Toronto net. 

Despite Bono potentially being disappointed with conceding a late goal, he will remember the night for stopping Silva's hard, close-range shot with his face in the 75th minute, resulting in big applause from the BMO crowd.

Bright Dike - who is out on loan but was available to play in this friendly per league rules - came close to equalizing in the dying moments when he was unable to steer his header at the back post on net. 

City continue their post-season tour when they travel to Houston to take on the Dynamo on Thursday. That game may be cancelled according to several reports, however, as deadly floods have ravaged the Oklahoma and Texas area in recent days. 

Toronto will hope none of their starting players picked up injuries in the friendly, as they entertain the Earthquakes next in league play and try to get their season going after a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers at the weekend.