TORONTO 鈥� After a 25-day hiatus, Toronto FC returns to action Wednesday looking for a change of fortune when it hosts the New York Red Bulls.
Toronto's break was longer than most, with a June 13 game at Los Angeles FC pushed back to Oct. 8 after LAFC qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup on top of the pause for the Gold Cup.
Toronto (3-10-4) went a disappointing 2-5-0 in May despite playing six of the seven games at home and looks to snap a three-game losing streak Wednesday.
Coach Robin Fraser believes the time away 鈥� the league mandated a six-day break for the players 鈥� did his team good.
"The first half of the season is over," he said after a torrid training session Tuesday with the city under an extreme heat alert.
"What happened happened and only we can affect the second half of the season. I think the training has been really good. I feel like they're in a good place. We know we have a big mountain to climb. But we've talked about it a lot during this break and I feel they're pretty ready for it."
The Red Bulls (8-7-3) arrive in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, six places and 14 points ahead of Toronto. But most of New York's success has come at Sports Illustrated Stadium where it is 7-1-1 compared to 1-6-2 on the road.
The Red Bulls' away record is tied with St. Louis City for 28th in the 30-team league. But evening the score perhaps is the fact that Toronto's home record, at 1-7-2, is last in the league 鈥� a record exacerbated by five defeats last month at BMO Field.
The break has not helped TFC's injury list much. Toronto is missing five injured players with two others listed as questionable.
The latest addition is captain Jonathan Osorio, who had to leave Canada at the Gold Cup because of a lower body injury sustained in training. Fraser said Osorio will be out for "a couple of weeks at least."
It's another blow for TFC's most senior player, who missed four games in May with a shoulder injury.
Toronto is also missing injured defenders Nicksoen Gomis, Henry Wingo and Kobe Franklin and midfielder Markus Cimermancic.
Federico Bernardeschi, who missed TFC's last two games through suspension and a muscle strain, and forward Deandre Kerr, sidelined by a high ankle sprain since March 29, were both listed as questionable.
Toronto is also without Richie Laryea and Deybi Flores who are away at the Gold Cup with Canada and Honduras, respectively. Wingback Tyrese Spicer is back after time with Trinidad and Tobago.
All of the Red Bulls players have returned from international duty, including Paraguayan goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.
New York midfielder Peter Stroud is suspended for yellow card accumulation while winger Cameron Harper is sidelined with a knee injury. Cameroon international forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is questionable with an abdominal injury.
One takeaway from Toronto's first half of the season was the need to get more numbers in and around the opposition penalty box, Fraser said.
While he felt the team had enjoyed some "opportunistic moments" on attack, he believes it need more options near the goal to take advantage of them.
Certainly Norwegian forward Ola Brynhildsen has plowed a lone furrow for much of the season.
Only Austin and CF Montreal (both with 15 goals) and St. Louis and D.C. United (both on 17) have scored fewer goals than Toronto's 18.
Toronto has had little success against the Red Bulls in recent years, winless in the last 12 regular-season meetings (0-9-3) since a 3-1 home win on July 17, 2019, thanks to goals by Jozy Altidore, Alejandro Pozuelo and Ashtone Morgan. New York has outscored TFC 26-6 during its unbeaten run.
The Red Bulls won 2-1 when the team met March 22 at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
"They're a good team. They have a lot of good players," said Fraser. "They have hard, seasoned defenders. They have attackers with some guile 鈥� They're very difficult to play against and certainly we know we have to be pretty sharp on both ends of the field to deal with them."
The New Yorkers had won four straight across all competitions prior to a 2-1 league loss last time out at Austin FC on June 14.
TFC hosts Portland on Saturday. After that, only five of its remaining 15 matches are at BMO Field.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
