Toronto FC earned their first win of the 2021 MLS season on Wednesday night, defeating defending MLS Cup Champions Columbus SC at Exploria Stadium 2-0.

Michael Bradley scored the opening goal in the 13th minute when a corner kick rattled around the Columbus box before finally settling onto his right boot for a low finish to the bottom left-corner of goal. And Jozy Altidore sealed the result late, nodding in a well-worked set-piece from close range in the 87th minute.

“Yeah, it was a big win, there's no two ways about it,” said Bradley post-match. “It's been a crazy start to the year. There's so much that's gone on behind the scenes. I'm never one to make excuses ever, but it's been our reality for this last stretch.”

“The feeling inside of the group has remained really good. We all feel like we're moving ourselves in a good direction, but when you have the standards that we do, you have to win games, you have to take points. You have to walk off the field at the end of 90 minutes feeling like you got the upper hand and we haven't done that on enough days so far this year,” he continued. “In that respect to play a good team tonight and to come away with a really strong win and three points, that part's really important.”

It was a couple of old hands in Bradley and Altidore, who led the way.

“Jozy, his energy around the team, the way he pushes guys, the way he pushes young players, it's a beautiful thing,” said Chris Armas. “I get to see it up close here. He's a leader around here.”

“Michael's a certain voice and captain and Jozy's the other guy, let's say, and there's others,” he continued. “But Jozy, the energy he brought in that locker room before the match tonight, the way he's been training.... Jozy wants to score goals – that's a desire goal there. It was great to see Jozy have a great influence on the game.”

“And Michael, since the day I showed up around here, he's really helped push the messaging and commitment to what we are doing,” Armas highlighted. “It's nice to see him drive the team tonight. He gets rewarded with a goal, but for him and us, it's the performance. That he's connected in all ways and he's helping coach the guys out there. Good performance from both guys; that's the leadership of this team.”

A win, a clean-sheet, two goals – it could have been more as Toronto twice his the crossbar and Columbus made two goal-line clearances – and a stifling defensive performance that limited the visitors to the most minimal of glimpses on goal.

It was a complete performance, striking a balance between pressing at the right times and controlling the game through spells of possession.

“It was deliberate,” said Armas. “We have players that are really good in possession and [we were] trying to put them in spots to work towards that strength while understanding moments to really attack and almost play where it could feel like transition from possession – where you have the ball, but it's not just a pass-around.”

“We used the ball well tonight,” he continued. “We got ourselves in some good spots and we attacked certain areas that we were hoping to. In the first half you could really see we created some overloads and this was a good thing; our guys understand that well.”

“When it feels like 90 degrees and humid, it's hard to press in long stretches, so then we are controlling certain spaces and organized in the mid-block,” Armas added. “Tonight with the ball was a nice step forward and then defensively, it was important that we were organized for most of the night.”

Alex Bono picked up the club’s first clean-sheet of the season.

Yeferson Soteldo, who made his debut off the bench on the weekend, got his first start and nearly scored his first goal, denied by a last-ditch block. Kemar Lawrence came on for his debut in the 64th minute. And Dom Dwyer, who was added to the fold the day before the game, is eagerly awaiting his inclusion.

“It's clear from the top all the way down, from Mr. Tannenbaum and the board, to Bill [Manning] and Ali [Curtis] and Chris, and right on down to the players. We want to win. The expectation is to compete in every competition we're in, always,” said Bradley. “So when you have a DP spot open the expectation is that you're going to get a guy who is going to come and really push the envelope for the team and the league.”

“Yeferson is still getting to know our group and still finding his feet a little bit, but you can see the ability he has and as we get him more time with our group on the training field and in games, we are going to see the best of him,” he continued. “You look then at guys like Kemar and Dom Dwyer. They see what we've built here and they want to come and be a part of it.”

“Those are two guys who are not just coming to make up numbers. These guys are fearless and they have an attitude and a mentality that they are coming here to help us compete and help us win,” Bradley added. “Those are the types of guys you want.”

On the heels of a good training session on Tuesday, there was a fresh breeze blowing through the air when Armas and Lawrence spoke to the media that afternoon. That was evident in Wednesday night’s performance.

One swallow does not a spring make.

“We feel good about the group that we have. We feel good about the work that's being done every day. But we have high standards and high expectations,” said Bradley. “When you're not taking the points that you want, when you're not winning games, that eats at you. And in the last few days there's been good discussions amongst the full group and amongst small groups of guys that just said, ‘Come on, we're working in good ways, but now we've got to really start to reward ourselves.’”

“Tonight's one game. We weren't ready to hit the panic button after the Red Bull game and we're not ready to say we've won anything yet tonight, either. It's a long season. We'll continue to work. We'll continue to move ourselves along. And that's that.”