HARRISON — Toronto FC had to deal with a lengthy weather delay 10 minutes into the game and a fire alarm following the final whistle. The New York Red Bulls made sure what came in-between Saturday wasn't much fun either.
Brazilian forward Elias Manoel, Norwegian winger Dennis Gjengaar and substitute Cameron Harper scored for the Red Bulls (9-4-7), who stretched their unbeaten run at home to 12 games in all competitions with a 3-0 win over slumping Toronto.
Toronto (7-10-3) had few answers for the Red Bulls' fast-paced game and offered little in attack.
Toronto has now lost three straight, is winless in its last six league outings (0-4-2) and has won just one of its last nine (1-6-2).
"The guys didn't quit," said Toronto coach John Herdman. "It wasn't good enough. We know that. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot in key moments, in key stages of the game."
"I don't think we quit today. I just think that we just weren't good enough," echoed winger Derrick Etienne Jr. "We've got to look at the mirror. That's something every single one of us has to see what we did good, what we did bad and rectify it."
Referee Joe Dickerson halted the game in the 10th minute due to a severe weather warning, with the players leaving the field and spectators asked to leave their seats. The match resumed after a delay of one hour, 40 minutes.
Manoel opened the scoring in the 29th minute by hammering a howitzer of a shot from just outside the Toronto penalty box for his fourth of the season. Goalkeeper Luka Gavran got a hand to the ball but could not stop it.
Defender Noah Eile found Manoel with a long pass straight down the middle of the field, with Frankie Amaya's dummy run holding the defence slightly.
Toronto midfielder Alonso Coello exited in the 38th minute, clutching the back of his leg after going down awkwardly. Herdman said it was a hamstring issue with the young Spaniard possibly missing three to four weeks.
Trailing 1-0 at the break, the Red Bulls took advantage of a Toronto blunder two minutes into the second half when defender Kevin Long's errant pass was intercepted by Wiki Carmona. The Venezuelan winger raced toward the Toronto goal and curled in a cross that a sliding Gjengaar knocked home for his first MLS goal.
Italian star Lorenzo Insigne, Toronto's stand-in captain, came off in the 70th minute after making little impact in the game.
Harper added to TFC's pain in the 75th, heading unchecked to the Toronto penalty box after Dylan Nealis collected another errant Toronto pass. Harper shimmied his way toward goal before sending a shot through Aime Mabika's legs past Gavran for his fourth of the season.
Amaya came off in the 87th minute in what could be his final game for the Red Bulls, with reports of an imminent move to Mexico.
The Red Bulls outshot Toronto 15-5 (7-2 in shots on target) and had nine corners to Toronto's one. TFC's XG (expected goals) was 0.3, compared to 1.2 for the Red Bulls.
Red Bull Arena has been a fortress of late.
The Red Bulls, who are 6-0-3 at home this season, came into weekend play as one of the three remaining sides yet to lose at home, along with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Los Angeles FC.
The New Yorkers are also unbeaten in their last 10 meetings (7-0-3) with Toronto, home and away, with TFC last winning July 7, 2019 — a 2-1 decision at BMO Field. New York has a 17-2-2 career home record against Toronto.
Herdman made just one change to the starting 11 that lost 2-1 to visiting Nashville mid-week with defender Sigurd Rosted replacing Raoul Petretta, who remained in Toronto awaiting the birth of his first child.
TFC had three players away on international duty at Copa America with captain/midfielder Jonathan Osorio and fullback/wingback Richie Laryea with Canada and goalkeeper Sean Johnson with the U.S. Defender Shane O’Neill, wingback Tyrese Spicer and midfielder Brandon Servania were injured.
The Red Bulls were without their starting goalkeeper and two key attackers. Goalkeeper Carlos Coronel is with Paraguay at Copa America while Lewis Morgan, the Red Bulls' leading scorer, is at Euro 2024 with Scotland. Swedish midfielder Emil Forsberg, second in scoring on the team, sat out with a foot injury.
"We missed, for sure, important players," said Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz, a German native. "But it's good to see, from the whole team as a group, that we're able to get points with this performance."
UP NEXT
Toronto plays at Atlanta United next Saturday, while the Red Bulls host D.C. United.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press
