Recap: Pozuelo free kick not enough to earn a point

A bit of magic from Alejandro Pozuelo wasn’t enough to earn Toronto FC a point on Saturday afternoon, as they fell 2-1 to the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Union.

The Reds looked dangerous early on, and had a couple of good scoring chances in the opening 15 minutes or so. Justin Morrow had the best chance after finding himself in a bit of space, but fired a shot straight at the goalkeeper.

After Quentin Westberg made a couple of nice saves, to keep the game scoreless, Philadelphia finally found their breakthrough in the 25th minute. After a brilliant low cross from the left wing, Fafa Picault got a foot on the ball and redirected it past Westberg for the opening goal. It was later called a Chris Mavinga own goal.

Toronto FC kept knocking on the door for the rest of the half, but they couldn’t find an answer.

After the break, a bit of magic from Alejandro Pozuelo saw the Reds tie it up again in the 51st minute. A perfectly-placed free kick into the top right corner, his 5th MLS goal of the season, made it 1-1 with plenty of time left to play.

The two sides would trade scoring chances, and in the 68th minute, the Union would re-take the lead.

After passing the ball to a teammate out wide, Jamiro Monteiro sprinted through the middle of the pitch and got on the end of a return pass, before sliding the ball into the bottom right corner.

The return of Jozy Altidore in the 72nd minute gave TFC a bit of a boost in energy, but Altidore was unable to produce a goal, and the Reds fell 2-1, which also means that the Union stay in first place in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto FC won’t have much time to dwell on this defeat, as D.C. United come to town on Wednesday.