Recap and Highlights: Philadelphia Union dominate Toronto FC to jump into first place

Toronto FC had a game to forget on Saturday night, falling 5-0 to the Philadelphia Union.

Playing a heavily-rotated squad due to a number of injuries to key players, Toronto FC were outclassed in this one, and fall to second in the Supporters Shield standings, now behind the Union on goal difference.

After dominating possession of the ball, Philadelphia opened the scoring in the 27th minute. Kai Wagner fired in a sensational cross following a quick counter-attack, finding the head of Sergio Santos, who beat Quentin Westberg.

The Union doubled their lead a few minutes later, as Mark McKenzie headed the ball home from a corner kick. None of the TFC defenders followed him in the box, and the American made it 2-0 from close range.

The score would be 2-0 going into halftime, but The Union weren’t done yet. Eleven minutes into the second half, the onslaught would continue.

After an error from Liam Fraser gave the ball away to Kacper Przybyłko, the Philadelphia forward played a low cross to Brenden Aaronson. He let the ball roll between his legs to Jamiro Monteiro, who took a touch before firing a perfect shot off the crossbar in the top left corner and back down to make it 3-0.

Over the next 12 minutes, Santos would find the back of the net twice more, completing a hat trick and a massive victory for the Philadelphia Union.

First, Santos found the back of the net by redirecting a cross from Wagner.

Then, to rub salt in the wound for Toronto FC, Santos completed his hat trick, as him and Aaronson took advantage of a 2-on-0 breakaway following more poor defending.

The one positive to come from this match for Toronto FC is that debuts were handed to a couple of youngsters. Ralph Priso, signed to a first-team contract last week, came on in the 64th minute, and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty made his debut in the 72nd.

16-year-old Marshall-Rutty became the youngest player in Toronto FC with the debut, replacing a record set in 2008 by Fuad Ibrahim.

The loss snaps a nine-game unbeaten run for the Reds, but Toronto FC can’t dwell on this defeat for too long, as they return to Hartford on Wednesday for a game against New York City FC.