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Globe and Mail
10 minutes ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Philadelphia Union rally with two late goals to defeat Toronto FC 2-1
Add another painful chapter to Toronto FC's challenging season. Toronto (3-9-4) held the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Union (10-3-3) scoreless for 85 minutes Wednesday and looked headed for just its second home win of the season after Norwegian forward Ola Brynhildsen roofed a shot in the 75th minute. But Philadelphia goals in the 86th and 92nd minutes made for a miserable ending and a 2-1 loss for TFC. 'I'm incredibly disappointed,' said Toronto coach Robin Fraser. 'The work that they did for 85 minutes was unbelievable. They fought. And this is a very, very difficult [Philadelphia] team to deal with. You have to be up for the physical battle. And for 85 minutes we were very good.' 'The performance they put on today, they were too good to let that slip away,' he added. And that is exactly what happened. After Nathan Harriel rose high to head home a Kai Wagner corner in the 86th minute, Wagner broke TFC fans' hearts with a 92nd-minute shot that deflected in off Toronto midfielder Matty Longstaff. Brynhildsen, who had been taking a beating from Philadelphia all evening, had outpaced two defenders to get to a long ball from Deybi Flores for his second goal of the season. 'Obviously it doesn't feel [good]. We worked so hard,' said Brynhildsen, whose mother and stepfather were in the stands. 'I think we really played well. Everyone was on. We were fighting. We beat Philadelphia at their own game, physical and running. And then we don't reward ourselves with winning the game. It's a tough one.' It was a scrappy stop-and-start game with a lot of whistles from referee Guido Gonzales Jr. The visitors spent much of the first half in Toronto's end, on a cool, damp evening with plenty of empty seats at BMO Field. Attendance was announced at 14,490, only slightly higher than the season low of 14,019 for the 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati on May 14. The Union outshot Toronto 13-10 (6-4 in shots on target). Philadelphia arrived atop the East, 13 places and 17 points ahead of Toronto – and trailing the Vancouver Whitecaps by one point in the Supporters' Shield standings. The Union are now unbeaten in eight matches (6-0-2) in league play and 10 in all competitions (8-0-2), dating back to a 1-0 defeat April 12 at New York City FC. After starting the campaign at 0-4-4, Toronto has gone 3-5-0 and came into the game eight points out of a playoff spot. Since posting its first victory of the season April 19 in Salt Lake, the club has lost, lost, won, lost, won, lost and lost in league play. The game was Toronto's 300th regular-season home game in club history with TFC 123-98-79, good for 448 points. Saturday's home game against Nashville was Toronto's 600th regular-season outing. With Toronto playing its sixth game in 25 days, coach Robin Fraser made seven changes to the starting lineup that lost 2-1 last weekend. Only goalkeeper Sean Johnson, winger Theo Corbeanu, Flores and Brynhildsen retained their places. Captain Jonathan Osorio, who came off the bench Saturday in his return from a shoulder injury, started for the first time since April 30. Defenders Henry Wingo, Raoul Petretta and Zane Monlouis also were back in the starting lineup. Toronto was still missing injured defenders Nicksoen Gomis and Kobe Franklin, along with forward Deandre Kerr. Star winger Federico Bernardeschi and defender Kosi Thompson were both suspended for yellow card accumulation. Recovered from a knee injury, Andre Blake was back in goal for Philadelphia. The 34-year-old Jamaican international, a three-time MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, had missed the last six games. TFC was unbeaten in its last three meetings with Philadelphia (2-0-1) and had a 14-11-8 edge (including 10-3-4 at BMO Field) in career regular-season meetings. The Union last won in Toronto in May 2019. Toronto hosts Charlotte FC on Saturday while Philadelphia plays at FC Dallas.
Hamilton Spectator
10 minutes ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Messi scores twice, assists in Miami's 4-2 win over Montreal
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi scored twice and had an assist, and Inter Miami broke out of its slump with a 4-2 victory over Montreal on Wednesday night. Messi scored in the 27th and 87th minutes and set up Luis Suárez's goal with some nice dribbling in the 68th. Suárez added another in the 71st. The win gave Messi's Inter Miami team just its second victory in its past eight matches. Miami last won on May 3 , going 0-2-2 since then and dropping to sixth in the Eastern Conference. It has been a surprising plunge for a team that went 22-4-8 during the regular season in 2024 to set MLS records for points (74) and winning percentage (.765) and captured the Supporters Shield — so puzzling that Messi spoke recently of the group's need to stick together despite the difficulties. His pep talk seemed to work. In its last match, Miami rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie Philadelphia, which leads MLS with 10 wins this season. And that momentum carried over against Montreal, which is last in the Eastern Conference with only one win. 'We know in what situation we are (in),' said Miami coach Javier Mascherano. 'Sometimes you have to analyze not just the result, you have to analyze the game, how we play. I think in some games we didn't get the result that we wanted. We deserved it a little bit more, but in (soccer), you don't deserve, you have to do.' Messi's first goal on Wednesday was set up by Sergio Busquets, who delivered a pass to his former Barcelona teammate and set the screen that freed up Messi for his seventh goal of the MLS season. Messi then linked up with Suárez to give Miami a two-goal cushion midway through the second half, and iced the win on a pass from Suárez just before the end of regulation. It was a much-needed goal for Suárez, who finished last season tied for the second-most goals in MLS with 20, but had just two entering Wednesday's match. It was also the offensive performance Miami needed before it begins Club World Cup play. The Herons have another MLS match at home on Saturday against Columbus before their first contest of the tournament against Al Ahly of Egypt on June 14. Miami could be without three defenders on Saturday, including veteran left back Jordi Alba, who went down with a lower-body injury in the first half. Mascherano said the team would need to gather more information to find out the extent of the injury. Gonzalo Luján and Toto Aviles also left with lower-body injuries. Miami allowed two late Montreal goals by Dante Sealy and Victor Loturi, both lapses that Mascherano was not happy about. 'That is something that is unacceptable,' he said, 'that we have to improve.' ___ AP soccer:
Associated Press
14 minutes ago
- General
- Associated Press
Gabriel Segal scores twice as Jonathan Bond and Dynamo blank NYCFC 3-0
Gabriel Segal scored twice in the second half and Jonathan Bond posted his fourth clean sheet as the Houston Dynamo cruised to a 3-0 victory over New York City FC on Wednesday night. The Dynamo (5-6-5) took a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute on an own goal by NYCFC midfielder Justin Haak. Houston grabbed a two-goal advantage five minutes into the second half when Segal scored unassisted. It was his first goal in his first start and fifth appearance this season. He matched his goal total in each of the past two seasons when he found the net four minutes into stoppage time. Bond needed to make just one save for his 21st career shutout in his 97th start. Bond had 17 clean sheets in three seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy prior to joining Houston. Matt Freese saved three shots for NYCFC (7-6-3), which falls to 6-3-1 at home on the season. The Dynamo improve to 2-2-5 on the road. Houston grabs a 3-2-0 series lead in the first meeting between the two teams since 2023 (a 1-0 home win for the Dynamo) and the first in New York since 2019. The Dynamo return home to play Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. NYCFC travels to play Nashville SC on Saturday. ___ AP soccer:
Washington Post
24 minutes ago
- General
- Washington Post
Kai Wagner sets up tying goal and scores the winner as the Union defeat Toronto 2-1
TORONTO — Kai Wagner set up the tying goal and scored the winner as the Philadelphia Union rallied to beat Toronto FC 2-1 on Wednesday night. Philadelphia (10-3-3) is unbeaten in eight matches (6-0-2) in MLS play and 10 in all competitions (8-0-2) dating to a 1-0 defeat at New York City FC on April 12. Toronto (3-9-4) has gone 3-5-0 after starting the campaign at 0-4-4. After Nathan Harriel rose high to head home a Wagner corner in the 87th minute, Wagner added a 92nd-minute shot that deflected in off Toronto midfielder Matty Longstaff. Ola Brynhildsen gave Toronto the lead in the 75th with his second goal of the season. Toronto captain Jonathan Osorio, who came off the bench Saturday in his return from a shoulder injury, started for the first time since April 30. Andre Blake was back in goal for Philadelphia after missing the last six games following a knee injury. The Union last won in Toronto in May 2019. ___ AP soccer:
Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- General
- Associated Press
Sebastien Ibeagha scores in stoppage time to rally Dallas to 3-3 draw with Cincinnati
CINCINNATI (AP) — Defender Sebastien Ibeagha scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time as FC Dallas rallied for a 3-3 draw with FC Cincinnati on Wednesday night. Ibeagha's goal came with assists from Patrickson Delgado and Ramiro Benetti after Gerardo Valenzuela scored his fourth goal — unassisted in the 86th to give Cincinnati the lead. It was the first goal this season for Ibeagha and his fourth in 171 career appearances. Delgado's helper was his first this season and Benetti's was the first of his career in his 14th appearance. Cincinnati grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute on Pavel Bucha's first goal this season. DeAndre Yedlin notched his third assist and Luca Orellano his second. Kévin Denkey scored on a penalty kick in the 42nd minute for a 2-0 advantage at halftime. Denkey's ninth goal came after he was fouled by Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes. Dallas pulled within 2-1 five minutes into the second half when Petar Musa used an assist from defender Shaq Moore to score his fourth goal this season and his 20th in 42 career appearances. Moore's assist was his first of the campaign. Anderson Julio found the net for the fourth time to tie it 2-2 in the 68th minute. Roman Celantano totaled two saves for Cincinnati (9-4-3). Paes saved five shots for Dallas (4-6-5) and had the only save in the first half. Former captain and 2023 MVP Luciano Acosta returned for the first time since being traded to Dallas after four seasons in Cincinnati. Cincinnati is 5-0-2 at home this season and 8-0-2 when scoring first. The club is 14-4-5 all time against Western Conference opponents under head coach Pat Noonan. Dallas made its first trip to Cincinnati after posting a win and a draw at home in the first two matchups. Dallas will host the Philadelphia Union on Saturday. Cincinnati plays visiting D.C. United on Saturday. ___ AP soccer:
