Toronto FC couldn’t build on their weekend win as they fell 3-1 to New York City FC in their first outing since parting ways with designated players Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. The match was the only Major League Soccer fixture played on Thursday.
New York got goals from Hannes Wolf, Mitja Ilenic, and Kevin O’Toole to secure the win and improve their record to 9-7-4. Eight of those victories have come at home, where NYCFC is now 8-3-0 at Yankee Stadium.
The result saw NYCFC jump three spots into sixth in the Eastern Conference, moving them 14 points and seven places ahead of Toronto in the standings.
Toronto, now 4-11-5, showed some promise in the early stages but lacked attacking sharpness in the first half. A brief spell of pressure came around the hour mark when Ola Brynhildsen and Theo Corbeanu forced saves from NYCFC goalkeeper Tomas Romero.
Defensively, TFC left too much space and allowed New York’s forwards to break through the lines with relative ease.
Despite a decent start, Toronto fell behind in the 20th minute after a New York free kick led to a cross into the box. Wolf met it with a composed left-footed volley that squeezed in off both goalposts after getting past Sean Johnson.
It was Wolf’s ninth goal of the year, and his sixth in as many matches, continuing a red-hot scoring run.
The hosts doubled their advantage early in the second half. In the 49th minute, Ilenic got his foot to Agustín Ojeda’s low cross after the Argentine winger was allowed to drive towards goal untouched. The 20-year-old Slovenian marked his second of the season with Cristiano Ronaldo’s signature celebration.
Toronto got a lifeline in the 70th minute when a Corbeanu cross was turned into the net for an own goal. The ball deflected off Justin Haak and then bounced off Romero before going in, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
But New York responded quickly. Just four minutes later, Kosi Thompson lost possession and Maxi Moralez combined with Wolf to find O’Toole unmarked in the box. The substitute dribbled forward and slotted a low shot past Johnson to make it 3-1.
Robin Fraser stuck with the same starting eleven that had convincingly beaten Portland 3-0 on Saturday, a match seen by many as the team’s best showing this season.
While Toronto did circulate the ball well, they lacked penetration up front. Both sides had four shot attempts in the first half, but NYCFC led 2-0 in shots on target.
Kevin Long was cautioned just two minutes in, with Matty Longstaff joining him in referee Fotis Bazakos’ book in the 20th minute.
Richie Laryea, back from international duty with Canada, came off the bench in the 57th minute. Maxime Dominguez received a yellow card after a physical exchange with Ilenic in the 67th.
The match marked Kosi Thompson’s 100th appearance for Toronto in all competitions.
On the New York side, forward Alonso Martínez returned to club duty after time with Costa Rica. Goalkeeper Matt Freese, who starred in the United States’ penalty shootout win over Honduras at the Gold Cup, was still away with the national team.
Tomas Romero, formerly with Toronto and now an El Salvador international, got the start in goal for New York. Canadian keeper Greg Ranjitsingh, also once part of TFC, was on the bench.
Toronto was again without several defenders, including Nicksoen Gomis, Zane Monlouis, and Henry Wingo. Captain Jonathan Osorio missed out due to a lower-body injury picked up with the Canadian national team, and midfielder Deybi Flores played midweek for Honduras in their Gold Cup semifinal loss to Mexico.
To bolster the squad, Toronto signed defender Reid Fisher and midfielder Malik Henry from TFC 2 on short-term MLS agreements. Henry, originally drafted by CF Montreal in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, cost Toronto a 2026 third-round pick and \$75,000 in conditional allocation money since Montreal retained his MLS rights.
Henry came on in the 70th minute and picked up a yellow card shortly after entering the match.
Toronto’s struggles in New York continue, as their regular season record at NYCFC falls to 1-6-5. Their only win in the city came in a 1-0 result on September 23, 2020, at Red Bull Arena, courtesy of a late Alejandro Pozuelo penalty.
TFC has, however, found some success in playoff matches on New York turf, winning two postseason contests against NYCFC.
