TFC drops fifth game in a row

The losses are mounting for Toronto FC. So is the frustration.

For the second week in a row, Toronto conceded a late goal in losing 1-0 to Orlando City SC. Substitute Kyle Smith’s header off a corner in the 92nd minute consigned TFC to a fifth straight MLS loss, dropping them to 3-7-2.

Last Sunday, Toronto succumbed to a 90th-minute Tosaint Ricketts goal in a 1-0 loss in Vancouver.

“Sometimes when you learn lessons, you learn them the harsh way,” lamented TFC goalkeeper Alex Bono.

Substitute Alexandre Pato, whose soccer resumé includes AC Milan, Corinthians and Chelsea, delivered an accurate corner kick that proved to be the dagger. Toronto forward Ayo Akinola was stationed at the near post but just missed getting his head to the ball, allowing Smith to flick it into the goal.

“Yeah, it hurts,” said Bono, “especially being the second game in a row where we give up a shutout really late. That’s definitely painful for me, I know, and for the rest of the guys … we work the whole 90 minutes and then it comes down to one play, and we just don’t quite execute.”

Orlando notched its sixth shutout of the season and took over top spot in the East, at least temporarily, following its first-ever win at BMO Field. Orlando outshot Toronto 17-8 (6-2 on target). Still, the home side likely deserved a draw in a game where goals seemed unlikely, with errant shots and defenders getting bodies in the way.

Toronto has been shut out in three straight games, last scoring on April 30 — a drought of 295 minutes.

Without pointing fingers, Toronto coach Bob Bradley broke down the Orlando goal in his post-match availability, with one error compounding another. Akinola was the first defender on the corner with a teammate nearby as the second line of defence.

“One of our big priorities is to not let balls come through that front zone. So we paid the price,” he said.

The TFC coach also said 19-yearold Deandre Kerr should have rethought an attempted flick that went awry on a Toronto throw-in and triggered the Orlando attack that led to the game-deciding corner.

Toronto’s last league shutout was Sept. 25 last season. The last one at BMO Field was in August 2020.

“It keeps me up at night,” said Bono. “It really weighs on me that we give up goals the way we do. “I live on shutouts, so the fact that we haven’t had one in a while is slowly killing me.”

According to Opta, a sports analytics company, TFC has kept one clean sheet in its last 42 league matches, the longest span without at least two in league history.

Bono said the team discussed taking two days off after the game to “clear our heads.”

“Resoundingly, everyone said: No, let’s get back to work. Let’s take our day (off ), let’s get back into training on Monday,” he said. “Let’s get back to work and really, as a group, individually, dig ourselves out of the tough rut we’re in.”