Toronto FC kicks off busy May schedule without injured captain Osorio

TORONTO - Toronto FC will be without captain Jonathan Osorio for at least a couple of weeks during a busy May schedule that could have a lot to say on whether the struggling MLS club can sort out its season.

Osorio joined TFC's list of walking wounded Wednesday when he suffered a partially dislocated shoulder, falling awkwardly in a tangle of players' early in the penalty shootout loss to CF Montreal in Telus Canadian Championship preliminary-round play.

"As somebody who's been through that, I know how unbelievably painful that is," Toronto coach Robin Fraser said Friday. "He's coming along. He'll probably be (out) a couple of weeks. But (it's) certainly not as bad as it could have been."

Still, Osorio is a big loss.

The 32-year-old Canadian international, who has played a franchise-record 380 games in all competitions for Toronto, is a talismanic figure at the club — able to play a variety of midfield roles. He is also one of the few links left to the club's glory days.

Toronto (1-5-4) hosts New England (4-4-1) on Saturday in its third game in a week. And there are more to come in short order.

Saturday's contest is the first of seven in May for Toronto, with six at home where it has yet to win this season.

"I do think May is going to be critical for our season … To have that many (games) in a row at home, it could be the start of a very good thing for us, but we have to take advantage of it," said Fraser.

Osorio joins injured defenders Richie Laryea, Zane Monlouis and Henry Wingo, midfielder Markus Cimermancic, midfielder/forward Derick Etienne Jr and forward Deandre Kerr on the sideline. Italian star Federico Bernardeschi, who missed Wednesday's game after picking up a knock in last week's 1-0 loss to New York City FC, is listed as questionable.

Backup goalkeeper Luka Gavran left training early, with a concerned look on his face. Fraser did not have an update on what happened.

There was some good news on the injury front, however, with forwards Ola Brynhildsen and Charlie Sharp both available. Fraser was so short on attackers for the midweek loss that 21-year-old TFC II forward Dekwon Barrow started up front.

New England goes into weekend play in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, four places and six points ahead of Toronto, which had gone unbeaten in four games (1-0-3) before the NYCFC loss.

Revolution coach Caleb Porter expects a "big challenge" in Toronto.

"Sometimes you play a team that's really desperate to win. That's the toughest opponent to play," he said. "They are fighting for their lives. And so are we, frankly. 

"We're in 10th. I told the guys today we've got to keep moving up. To do that, we need to be focused and hungry. If we're focused and hungry then we'll have a chance to win the game. If we're not then we've got no chance to win this game."

After a 1-4-1 start to the season, New England has won three straight by blanking Atlanta, New York City FC and most recently Charlotte FC. The Revs, now playing a back three, bring a 295-minute shutout streak to BMO Field.

In contrast, Toronto has not scored in league play in 349 minutes, dating back to Kerr's goal April 5 in a 2-1 loss to Chicago. TFC's last win at home was Sept. 14, a 2-1 decision over Austin FC.

New England boasts the second-best defensive record in the league, conceding just 0.78 goals per game on average (only Inter Miami at 0.70 is stingier).

"There's not been a game (where) we haven't defended well," said Porter. "So I think nothing's really changed there. I think the difference is we've found that first goal. And that's really the only difference. I still think we need to find more goals … There's still a lot of areas we can improve in."

Fraser says he sees a New England team with a "new-found belief."

"Their defensive record has been nothing short of spectacular for the last several games … So we expect it to be a very difficult game," he said. "They've become a very difficult team to break down and they have some very good attacking pieces."

New England playmaker Carles Gil is flourishing, with four goals and one assist in his last five appearances.

Still the Revs have scored just seven goals in league play, with only three from open play (one was an own goal with three more coming via Gil from the penalty spot).

Toronto's defence is improving under Fraser, a former two-time MLS Defender of the Year. After conceding 12 goals in its first five games, TFC has only given up two in the last five.

The New England roster features former Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono, who made 157 appearances across eight seasons (2015-22) for the club, and forward Maxi Urruti, who appeared n two games for TFC in 2013 in his first season in MLS before being traded to Portland.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025.