No good trend in sight for Reds

NEIL DAVIDSON The sky may not be falling but it’s looking very dark for Toronto FC. A bad season got worse Wednesday in a 4-3 mid-week loss at modest Minnesota. And it doesn’t get any easier Saturday when Toronto (4-10-3) visits Sporting Kansas City, which is 6-1-2 at home.

The reigning MLS champions have never won at Children’s Mercy Park in seven tries (06-1) with their lone win in Kansas City coming in March 2009 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Kansas City (9-4-5) has not lost at home in four months — since its season opener March 4, a 2-0 defeat at the hands of New York City FC. And SKC is riding an eight-game undefeated streak against Toronto that dates back to the 2013 season.

The numbers are all bad for Toronto, which is playing its third game this week.

Greg Vanney’s team has lost three in row for the first time since September 2015, is winless in four (0-3-1), has just one victory in its last seven matches (1-4-2) and has picked up just eight points of the last 30 on offer (2-6-2).

“There’s no possible way to sugar-coat anything so far in the league. It’s just been bad, plain and simple,” captain Michael Bradley said after the loss in Minnesota.

At the halfway point last season, Toronto was 10-2-5 — 20 points ahead of its position this season. It’s a measure of what a remarkable 2017 campaign TFC had that the team posted a very similar 10-3-4 mark in the second half.