Black cat runs across pitch during CONCACAF Champions League match, makes expert escape

The cats that live in the Internet are leaking onto the world's football pitches again and this time it was a bad omen for Toronto FC.

Like the Anfield Cat before him (or her), a black cat ran across the pitch in the 83rd minute of Toronto's CONCACAF Champions League match against Santos Laguna. The cat sprinted in from the halfway line and ran behind Toronto's defense as Santos mounted an attack. It then darted behind Toronto keeper Freddy Hall just before Santos took a shot on goal, which Hall was focused enough to save as the cat climbed a staircase and made its way into the stands at BMO Field. It was a brilliant escape from the cat, and though Hall held off Santos in that moment, the more superstitious Toronto fans will see this as an evil turning point in the match.

When the black cat made its run, the score was even at 1-1, but Santos went on to score not once but twice in added time to win 3-1 and ensure a more hostile reception for all future feline pitch invaders in Toronto.

Then again, this was a match between the last-place team in MLS against the Mexican Clausura champions, so Santos scoring two late goals might have been inevitable regardless of black cat hoodoo.