Toronto FC’s MLS regular-season finale ends in a loss to D.C. United

Ola Kamara scored twice for D.C., increasing his season total to a career-high 19, while Julian Gressel had two assists to raise his number to 14 on the season. Steven Birnbaum also scored for D.C.

Richie Laryea had the Toronto goal.

D.C. (14-15-5) needed a win and help from others — the Red Bulls to lose at Nashville SC and Montreal to lose or tie against visiting Orlando — to secure an Eastern Conference playoff berth on the final day of regular-season play.

The Red Bulls did not co-operate, tying Nashville 1-1.

Six points behind the Chicago Fire, Toronto was destined to remain 13th in the 14-team division no matter what happened. Toronto, second in the Supporters’ Shield standings last season, started Decision Day 26th overall in the 28-team league.

Toronto finished the season with a franchise-worst 66 goals conceded, erasing the club mark of 64 in 2018 when the team went 10-18-6. It also matched 18 losses that year, second only to 2012 when the team went 5-21-8.

The sun was out for the regular-season finale, with the temperature a balmy 15 C at the lakefront.

Toronto fell behind in the 13th minute when Birnbaum beat the defence to power a header past Quentin Westberg off a fine Gressel corner. It was the 15th goal Toronto has conceded in the first 15 minutes of play, worst in the league.

Laryea tied it up in the 18th minute with a long-range shot that found the corner after a nice Toronto setup.

Kamara restored D.C.’s lead from the penalty spot in the 30th minute lead after Westberg took him down in the penalty box. It was the ninth goal of the season via penalty for the Norwegian international.

Kamara made it 3-1 in the 36th, redirecting Gressel’s shot via a flick of his boot after a well-worked short corner that featured a nifty backheel from Paul Arriola to Gressel that took two defenders out of the play. Gressel then worked his way around Michael Bradley to make space for the shot.

Sunday’s game marked the MLS swan song for veteran fullback Justin Morrow, who led the team out as captain. The 34-year-old Ohio native was making his 254th appearance for the club in all competitions, second only to Jonathan Osorio’s 291.

Wife Jimena and daughters Chiara and Lucia were on hand as Morrow walked out.

Morrow came off in the second-half stoppage time to a standing ovation from the announced crowd of 11,166.

It marked Morrow’s ninth start this season — and the 267th of his MLS career including the playoffs. He spent four seasons with San Jose before joining Toronto in December 2013 for some US$100,000 in allocation money.

TFC came into the game winless in its last five league outings (0-2-3) but had taken points off playoff contenders in ties with Montreal, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

D.C. United was coming off a 3-1 loss to Columbus and had only won one of its last six outings (1-4-1). But unlike Toronto, which beat Pacific FC midweek in the Canadian Championship semifinal, it had a full week to prepare.

While Toronto had more of the ball in the first half, D.C. had a 11-5 edge in shots (6-3 in shots on target).

D.C. came close in the fourth minute with Kamara’s shot grazing the top of the crossbar. Westberg made a diving save four minutes later to deny Kamara again from the edge of the penalty box.

Osorio’s goal-line clearance of Kamara’s deflected shot saved Toronto in the 17th minute with Westberg stopping the Kamara shot that followed.

Osorio almost scored before halftime off a Bradley corner but Bill Hamid got his hands to his headed flick.

Toronto replaced Altidore, Chris Mavinga and Jahkeele Marsall-Rutty at halftime. Mavinga’s withdrawal was injury-related. Bradley dropped back to play centre back alongside Kemar Lawrence.

Substitute Dom Dwyer’s header, off a fine cross from Alejandro Pozuelo, just went over the D.C. crossbar in the 53rd minute. Nick DeLeon, another sub, sent a dipping shot just over the crossbar in the 66th.

D.C. United had a part to play in TFC’s season. A 7-1 humiliation at Audi Field on July 3 was the nadir of Toronto’s campaign, sending the 1-8-2 club to a sixth straight defeat that cost first-year coach Chris Armas his job.

It marked the 10th time in MLS history that seven or more goals were scored by a team in a single team. It was also the first time ever seven different players had scored for a team in one match in 6,308 regular-season games.

Only five TFC starters from that game were in the starting 11 Sunday: Bradley, Osorio, Laryea, Mavinga and Lawrence.

Javier Perez, the assistant coach elevated to the top job the remainder of the season, was 5-9-8 at the Toronto helm coming into Sunday’s match. TFC was eliminated from playoff contention Oct. 16 in a 2-0 loss to Atlanta with give games remaining in the regular season.

Toronto, which had to deal with a pre-season COVID outbreak, played the first 16 games of the season in all competitions away from home after relocating to Orlando due to pandemic-related travel issues. It did not play at BMO Field until July17.

TFC finished the season 3-4-7 in league play at BMO Field this year.

Toronto was without the injured Yeferson Soteldo, Alex Bono, Omar Gonzalez, Eriq Zavaleta, Jacob Shaffelburg and Brazilian Auro as well as long-term absentees Ayo Akinola, Tsubasa Endoh and Ralph Priso.

Perez made four changes to his midweek starting 11 with Morrow, Mavinga, Marshall-Rutty and Ifunanyachi Achara slotting in.

D.C. was missing designated player Edison Flores, Russell Canouse, Kevin Paredes, Frederic Brillant and Moses Nyeman.

Toronto FC’s MLS regular-season finale ends in a loss to D.C. United

Pro Tips