• Toronto FC 0, D.C. United 1 (Rooney 18’)

• TFC suffers 17th loss of MLS season

• D.C. win hurts Montreal’s playoff chances



The 2018 MLS regular season can’t end soon enough for Toronto FC.

It was another demoralizing setback for TFC on Wednesday night, with the Reds dropping a 1-0 road decision to D.C. United for their 17th loss of the campaign.

Toronto has now lost three of its last four games, and five of its previous six. The MLS Cup champs have also coughed up 61 goals on the year, one short of matching a franchise-worst 62, a record set during the ill-fated 2012 campaign.

If TFC coach Greg Vanney was hoping for his team to come out with renewed vigour after the international break, then he had to have been disappointed. The Reds lacked urgency throughout this contest, playing at a standstill pace, and showed little attacking ambition in the final third of the pitch.

Once again, Toronto couldn’t find a way back into a game after going down against D.C. The Reds have now lost 16 of the 18 matches in which they’ve conceded the first goal this season, coming from behind to win just once.

TFC was in a positon to help the Montreal Impact, who are in a fight with D.C. for the sixth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. D.C. made full use of its game in hand over Montreal by extending its lead over the Impact to four points with two matches remaining in the season.

Vanney was forced to juggle his lineup due to a number of absences. Among the list of players unavailable were forward Jozy Altidore, defender Chris Mavinga and midfielder Victor Vazquez (injuries), fullback Gregory Van der Wiel (suspension), and Sebastian Giovinco, Jonathan Osorio, and Marky Delgado (international duty).

As a result, Jon Bakero, forward Jordan Hamilton and fellow Canadian Liam Fraser earned rare starts, with Fraser lining up next to captain Michael Bradley in central midfield. Bradley was in the starting 11 despite coming on as a second-half substitute for the U.S. in a friendly against Peru on Tuesday night. Defender Drew Moor was back in the lineup after missing the last four matches with a calf injury.

A fast-paced opening 15 minutes of the saw both teams carve out quality scoring chances. Nick DeLeon forced a save from Toronto goalkeeper Alex Bono at the near post with a dangerous shot from an angle, while D.C.’s Bill Hamid stopped Nick Hagglund’s powerful header inside the six-yard box off a corner kick.

The hosts took the lead with a fantastic goal by Rooney, who bent a free kick from 35 yards out around TFC’s defensive wall and past a diving Bono as it nestled into the net. The former England captain now has 10 goals in his 17 MLS games since signing with D.C. in July.

While it was a highlight-reel goal, it was entirely preventable. Bradley committed a needless foul on D.C.’s Zoltan Stieber, giving away the free kick when Toronto’s back line was in a good position to snuff out any potential danger.

DeLeon had a chance to double D.C.’s lead just before halftime, but his header off a Rooney corner kick hit teammate Yamil Asad and deflected off the crossbar.

Rooney once again turned provider early in the second half when he set up Luciano Acosta with a lovely pass, but the Argentine hit the post with a powerful shot from 12 yards out. Bono came up big later with a smart save to deny Rooney his second goal of the contest.

NOTES: D.C. United has a 15-10-6 edge in the all-time series against Toronto… This was the second meeting of the year between TFC and D.C. They played to a 4-4 draw at BMO Field on June 13… Toronto returns to action on Sunday when it visits the Montreal Impact. The Reds close out the regular season the following weekend at home versus Atlanta United FC.