TORONTO — Toronto FC head coach Robin Fraser used a four-letter word to describe his emotions after the Reds saw their seven-game unbeaten streak snapped Saturday at BMO Field.
A word that rhymes with ‘ship’
“Can you say that?” said Fraser, with a laugh. “This is a team that, whether we played well, played poorly, started well, started poorly, at the end of the day we found ways to get results and keep moving forward.”
Unfortunately for Fraser, his club couldn’t find a way to move forward Saturday. A banged-up TFC side limped into BMO Field on a cold, rainy afternoon and allowed visiting Atlanta United to record a 2-1 victory. That put an end to Toronto’s seven-game unbeaten streak and 13-game unbeaten run at home.
“Because this group never quits, you almost start to expect that we’re going to come back and tie it (all the time),” said Fraser. “But this is a game that’s not always going to go your way.
“(The result was) extremely disappointing, obviously. But I can take positives out of it. The mentality we showed towards the end was excellent. But we need to see that from the beginning.”
Part of the reason for Toronto’s flat performance was the club having been hammered with injuries to key starters, including midfielders Richie Laryea (thigh), Djordje Mihailovic (pelvis), and Deandre Kerr, and defender Matheus Pereira, who underwent surgery for a chronic groin condition Friday. Pereira is expected to be out 10-to-12 weeks while TFC GM Jason Hernandez said Laryea could be out of action for a month.
However, the Canadian international is not expected to miss any of Canada’s World Cup matches this summer. On top of that, centre back Walker Zimmerman missed Saturday’s game as he and his wife were expecting their third child.
Starters Benjamin Kuscevic and Jose Cifuentes were forced to leave in the first-half because of injuries. All three goals in the match were scored in the second half with Atlanta jumping ahead 2-0 before the Reds climbed to within one in the 71st minute on a goal by Emilio Aristizabal — his first as a member of TFC.
Aristizabal became the sixth different player to open their account for the Reds this season.
“It’s frustrating,” Fraser said of the injuries. “The building of the relationships (on the field), the rhythm and that sort of thing gets disrupted.
“The relationships and the chemistry is just a little bit off and when we have to keep changing (the lineup) it becomes difficult to maintain a rhythm.”
The Reds dominated possession (68 per cent to 32 per cent) but managed only two shots on target.
Atlanta drew first blood in the 22nd minute when striker Cayman Togashi picked up a long pass from Alexey Miranchuk and beat TFC defender Zane Moniouis to the outside. However, after a video review, it was determined Togashi was offside when he received the pass.
The Five Stripes did jump ahead 1-0 in the 48th minute on a free kick when Miranchuk deposited a left-footed shot from just outside the box into the top left corner after a questionable foul call on Toronto’s Josh Sargent. Shortly after that, Sargent almost tied it when he dove towards a floating ball in front of the Atlanta goal and just missed with an attempted header.
A couple of minutes later, after Sargent was fouled, Toronto centre back Alonso Coello right-footed a shot just wide on a free kick. Coello then took a corner kick, which was headed by Zane Moniouis right at Atlanta keeper Lucas Hoyos.
United jumped ahead 2-0 when defender Tristan Muyumba scored with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box in the 67th minute after a brilliant series of passes in the TFC end. Assists went to Fafa Picault and Cooper Sanchez.
Four minutes later, Aristizabal converted for the Reds to make it 2-1. He scored with a header from the centre of the box into the top left corner after a great feed by Kobe Franklin. Coello also assisted.
“Goals are always something that makes me excited as a striker,” said Aristizabal. “And I hope there’s more goals coming down the line.”
The Reds kept pushing after their first goal and Malik Henry just missed on a right-footed shot that sailed just past the Atlanta goal post. TFC tied the game 2-2 in the 85th minute by Jules-Anthony Vilsaint but the goal was waved off when he was ruled offside.
“The last 20 minutes were good,” said Fraser, breaking down the match. “Before that, we were just a bit tentative.
“To be fair, Atlanta did a really good job of making it difficult to do the things that we have been doing well (during unbeaten streak). They did a really good job of making it difficult for us to build out. But this is a game, when they take something away, you have to be able to find other ways to hurt them and I thought we didn’t run in behind enough early in the game.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 25, 2026
Steve Buffery, The Canadian Press
