Toronto FC are making their late-season push count. The Reds came from behind to hand league-leading Nashville SC a rare 2-1 defeat at home on Wednesday, stretching their unbeaten run to seven games and keeping their flickering playoff hopes alive in the Eastern Conference.
Both Toronto goals came in the second half, and both were driven by substitutes, according to Sportsnet.
Theo Corbeanu, a 21-year-old from Burlington, Ont., delivered a goal-line cross in the 72nd minute that Daniel Salloi buried to pull Toronto level. Then, three minutes into stoppage time, Emilio Aristizabal took a pass from Salloi in the box and fired a right-footed shot past the Nashville keeper for the winner.
The loss snapped a six-game unbeaten streak for Nashville (16-3-5), who arrived at BMO Field as the hottest team in Major League Soccer. Toronto (6-7-11) now has four wins and three draws over its last seven matches.
Roster rotation pays off
Head coach Robin Fraser said his second-half changes were made with an eye on the schedule. Toronto was playing its third game in a week, following a 4-4 home draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday, and faces what he expects will be sweltering conditions in Orlando this weekend.
Orlando's going to be just stinking hot,” Fraser said. “So certainly we had to have one eye on the weekend.
"This is why we have a team," Fraser told Sportsnet. "It was gratifying to see that as the subs went in, we maintained the level, and if anything, picked it up."
Toronto has climbed back into postseason contention since the FIFA World Cup break, when the club sat near the bottom of the East. The Reds are now tied with New York City FC on 29 points with 10 games remaining, though New York holds the tiebreaker between the two clubs.
Everything feels like a playoff game right now,” said Fraser, who praised his players’ recent resilience.
Breakthrough for Aristizabal
The winner was a milestone for Aristizabal, a Colombian forward on loan from Atlético Nacional who had not scored since a two-goal performance on May 9. He is the son of Víctor Aristizabal, who represented Colombia at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
The younger Aristizabal, speaking through an interpreter, said his limited playing time has taught him patience, and credited the competition within Toronto's group of strikers — including Josh Sargent, who scored a hat trick against Chicago — for keeping the standard high.
"We're helping each other and trying to push everyone to the next level," Aristizabal told Sportsnet.
Nashville, meanwhile, will look to bounce back Saturday with a visit to Inter Miami CF. Toronto travels to Orlando for a match that could go a long way toward deciding whether the Reds' surge turns into a genuine playoff run.
