Toronto FC’s playoff hopes took a significant hit on Saturday despite a late rally that included two second-half goals.<\/p>\n
With a 4-2 loss to the host Columbus Crew, TFC stayed at 36 points on the season and 11th in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the victory put Columbus (38 points) into the No. 10 spot, and wins by Cincinnati (42) and the New York Red Bulls (39) on Saturday pushed them into the eighth and ninth seeds, respectively. The top nine in the conference make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Toronto now has just three games remaining to climb past Columbus and New York and secure a wild-card spot to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.<\/p>\n
The Crew (11-15-5), who have won three consecutive games and five of their last six, have 38 points this season.<\/p>\n
Dylan Chambost had three assists for Columbus. Patrick Schulte had five saves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sekou Bangoura was shown his second yellow card in the 70th minute and the Crew played a man down the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
“Disappointing result for us in a game which was very important, which we needed to win,” TFC forward Theo Corbeanu said following the loss. “But I thought we reacted very well, extremely well in the second half, even though the first half was very, very poor for our standards. I thought we reacted excellently and, actually, if you look at the entire second half,\u00a0 we put immense pressure on them and I think on a different day, maybe we can actually equalize the game.”<\/p>\n
D\u00e1niel Sall\u00f3i scored in the 69th minute and Josh Sargent added a goal in the 81st for Toronto (8-10-12).<\/p>\n
“Yeah, it’s easy to judge when you’re not at training every day, and you don’t see the things that we’re working on or what we’re trying to accomplish,” Toronto head coach Robin Fraser said post-game when asked about the decision to bring Sall\u00f3i off the bench and not with the starting 11. “So, the decision really was about the continuity of the last game. Lewis (Morgan) has settled in and done really well, and it was a decision to bring (Sall\u00f3i) off the bench because I knew that he would be effective as (Columbus) gets tired, and, as it turns out, we’re right.”<\/p>\n
Mohamed Farsi ran onto a ball, played ahead by Santiago Rodriguez, and tapped a first-touch cross to Tapia for the tap-in finish<\/a> into a wide-open net in the 16th minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n