Toronto FC II Head Coach Gianni Cimini’s season-opening XI featured six new acquisitions (Zakaria Nakhly, Jackson Gilman, Bryce Boneau, Damar Dixon, Fletcher Bank and Elias Khodri), three returning players (Reid Fisher, Stefan Kapor and Micah Chisholm), and a pair of club debutants in TFC Academy products Edwin Omoregbe and Shyon Pinnock.
Philadelphia Union II took an early lead through Malik Jakupovic’s powerful left-footed strike from outside the box in the eighth minute.
The Young Reds created several chances throughout the remainder of the match, with captain Jackson Gilman and substitute Kervon Kerr coming closest to an equalizer for the visitors.
Luca Costabile, Kervon Kerr and Tristan Blyth were introduced off the bench in the second half for their club debuts, on an afternoon that also saw four TFC Academy products, Edwin Omoregbe, Shyon Pinnock, Kerr and Blyth make their professional debuts.
Goalkeeper Zakaria Nakhly, making his TFC II debut, made five impressive saves to keep the Young Reds within touching distance, but the hosts ultimately prevailed 1-0 courtesy of Jakupovic’s eighth minute breakthrough in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Toronto FC II return to action next to face New England Revolution II on Sunday, March 8. Kick-off from Beirne Stadium in Smithfield, Rhode Island is set for 5:00 p.m. ET and and will be available to watch globally on MLSNEXTPro.com and OneFootball.
Scoring Summary:
PHI – Malik Jakupovic 8’
Misconduct Summary:
PHI – Malik Jakupovic 26’ (caution)
PHI – John Ruf 35’ (caution)
PHI – Willyam Ferreira 69’ (caution)
PHI – Matheus De Paula 90’ (caution)
PHI – George Marks 90+2’ (caution)
TOR – Tristan Blyth 90+5’ (caution)
Lineups:
PHILADELPHIA UNION II – George Marks; Oliver Pratt, Rafael Uzcátegui (C), Kaiden Moore (Finn Sundstrom 57’), Jordan Griffin; Kellan LeBlanc (Lennon Harrington 85’), Óscar Benítez Cobo, Isaiah Mendoza (Matheus De Paula 57’), Willyam Ferreira (Theo Reed 72’); Malik Jakupovic, John Ruf (Nehan Hasan, 57’)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Smith
TORONTO FC II – Zakaria Nakhly; Edwin Omoregbe, Reid Fisher, Stefan Kapor (Tristan Blyth 87’), Micah Chisholm; Jackson Gilman (C), Bryce Boneau (Luca Costabile 64’), Damar Dixon (Kervon Kerr 71’); Shyon Pinnock, Fletcher Bank, Elias Khodri
Substitutes Not Used: Harrison Patterson, Demitre Adamson, Daniel Stampatori, Spencer Sappleton, Dékwon Barrow, Joshua Nugent
MEDIA NOTES
- Eleven players made their Toronto FC II debuts this afternoon: Starters Zakaria Nakhly, Edwin Omoregbe, Jackson Gilman, Bryce Boneau, Damar Dixon, Shyon Pinnock, Fletcher Bank and Elias Khodri along with Luca Costabile, Kervon Kerr and Tristan Blyth as substitutes.
- Four Toronto FC Academy products made their professional debuts for TFC II: Edwin Omoregbe, Shyon Pinnock, Kervon Kerr and Tristan Blyth.
- TFC II’s season-opening starting XI featured six Canadians (Zakaria Nakhly, Edwin Omoregbe, Stefan Kapor, Micah Chisholm, Damar Dixon and Shyon Pinnock) with two more (Tristan Blyth and Kervon Kerr) appearing as second-half substitutes.
- With the result, Toronto FC II’s all-time Season Opener record moves to 4W-6L-1T (13 points).
