Recap: Toronto FC suffers fifth defeat in a row

Head coach Bob Bradley made three changes to Toronto’s starting XI after their 1-0 loss on the road to Vancouver last weekend.

Carlos Salcedo came back into the lineup after missing last week, Ralph Priso was back in as well after serving his one-game suspension. Alejandro Pozuelo was not in the 18, as Jordan Perruzza took his place.

Possession in the opening 10 minutes of the match was back and forth, with both teams struggling to string consistent passes together.

TFC’s first chance came in the 19th minute when a cross from the right flank found Luca Petrasso on the other side of the pitch, but his shot was blocked by an Orlando defender.

Five minutes later, a low shot from Jesús Jiménez was calmly saved by Lions keeper Pedro Gallese.

Kosi Thompson found himself amongst the action on the defensive end, making two key interventions in both the 27th and 32nd minutes.

The away side was awarded a free kick towards the end of the first half, Mauricio Pereyra’s shot went over Toronto’s wall and ‘keeper Alex Bono was equal to the task.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Perruzza dribbled his way through a couple of players, the ball found Deandre Kerr, and his shot was easily saved by Galesse.

Another chance for the home side came in the 67th minute from Kerr yet again. Good passing between Paul Rothrock and Jiménez led to Kerr picking up the ball, yet hit shot went just wide of the target.

Ayo Akinola was subbed on in the second half, making his 50th first team appearance for the club. He came very close to opening the scoring in the 81st minute following a scramble in the box, as the ball fell right to the Brampton native, but his shot was deflected out for a corner.

Orlando scored the game-winning goal in second half stoppage time through Kyle Smith. Brazilian Alexandre Pato sent in a cross to the front post and found an unmarked Smith who headed it in.

In post-game availability, Bono spoke about the ongoing clean sheet woes:

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

Bob Bradley spoke briefly about the result, along with the return of Priso:

“It’s a big effort, guys giving everything they had. Building him (Priso) up again is how we continue his development, ” said Bradley.

The Reds will look to snap this difficult losing streak next Saturday when they take on D.C. United at Audi Field. Kick-off is set for 4:00 pm EST.