Toronto FC (7W-13L-3T, 24 points) dropped a 4-0 result to the defending MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew (11W-3L-3T, 39 points) at Lower.com Field on Saturday evening.
First Half:
TFC Head Coach John Herdman made three changes from the midweek starting eleven against Orlando City with Shane O’Neill, Kevin Long and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty coming in for Aimé Mabika, Deybi Flores and Lorenzo Insigne.
The two Eastern Conference sides exchanged goalscoring opportunities early into proceedings on the warm July evening. Toronto’s Kevin Long’s towering header from Federico Bernardeschi’s out-swinging corner found the Columbus net in the 12th minute, only for the effort to be ruled out by referee Ted Unkel’s instant whistle and signal that the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play during the delivery.
Moments later, Columbus Crew scored the opener from their first corner routine of the evening, as Cucho Hernández headed home Diego Rossi’s in-swinging cross in the 15th minute.
In a moment of déjà vu, the Black & Gold found the back of the net with a nearly identical corner routine between Rossi and Hernández in the 29th minute. Following an in-stadium video review by Unkel, the effort, however, was disallowed for a foul in the build-up, much to the home crowd’s dismay.
Unable to capitalize on a couple of half-chances created down Toronto’s right flank to close the half, the visitors entered the break trailing by one.
Second Half:
The Black & Gold doubled their advantage against the run of play seven minutes into the second half, when Cucho Hernández’s low cross into the box was controlled and finished by Christian Ramirez.
The Reds gathered offensive momentum following the introduction of Lorenzo Insigne off the bench at the hour mark. Shortly after, Federico Bernardeschi forced Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte into an important save to deny the Italian’s thunderous long-range effort in the 65th minute.
The visitors continued knocking on the door with two attempts in quick succession ten minutes later. First, substitute Kobe Franklin’s well-timed run to the far-post was met with a side-footed attempt that went agonizingly wide before Insigne’s dipping long-range effort went narrowly over the crossbar in the 79th minute.
Columbus further highlighted their clinical edge on the night by adding two late goals, through Mohamed Farsi and Diego Rossi, in the final 10 minutes to ultimately secure the four-goal margin and all three points from the Matchday 25 affair.
Next up, Toronto FC travel to face Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League in the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship on Wednesday evening. The first-leg of the semi-final match-up kicks off at 7:00 p.m. ET at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario and will be broadcast on OneSoccer across Canada.
LINEUPS
COLUMBUS CREW – Patrick Schulte; Steven Moreira (Derrick Jones 82’), Rudy Camacho, Yevhen Cheberko; Mohamed Farsi (Yaw Yeboah 88’), Alexandru Mățan (Taha Habroune 88’), Darlington Nagbe (C), Maximilian Arfsten; Christian Ramírez (Sean Zawadzki 82’), Diego Rossi (Marino Hinestroza 88’), Cucho Hernández
Substitutes Not Used: Nicholas Hagen, Will Sands, Malte Amundsen
TORONTO FC – Sean Johnson; Shane O’Neill (Lorenzo Insigne 60’), Kevin Long (Aimé Mabika 83’), Nicksoen Gomis; Federico Bernardeschi (C), Matty Longstaff, Raoul Petretta (Sigurd Rosted 82’), Kosi Thompson, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty (Kobe Franklin 71’); Derrick Etienne Jr. (Deandre Kerr 83’), Prince Owusu
Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Markus Cimermancic, Nathaniel Edwards, Cassius Mailula
MEDIA NOTES
- Kobe Franklin made his 50th appearance for Toronto FC across all competitions, becoming the eighth current TFC player (Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Deandre Kerr, Federico Bernardeschi, Shane O’Neill and Kosi Thompson) to reach the milestone.
- Shane O’Neill made his 50th MLS appearance for Toronto FC.
