Toronto FC's crisis deepens with fifth straight loss to Cincinnati

Ten games into the season, Toronto FC has accumulated only five points. On Saturday in Orlando, the team lost 2-0 to FC Cincinnati—its fifth straight defeat—and the margin of the collapse has become impossible to ignore.

The match unfolded with brutal familiarity. In the fourth minute, before most supporters had settled into their seats, Allan Cruz scored for Cincinnati after Mark Delgado lost possession near Toronto's goal. It was exactly the kind of early concession that has haunted this team all season. Coach Chris Armas, now in his first year leading TFC, has watched his squad fall to 0-6-1 whenever it trails first. By the 68th minute, Luciano Acosta added a second goal—a curling strike from outside the box that left goalkeeper Alex Bono with no answer. The final scoreline was 2-0, but the damage had been done long before.

Toronto's record now stands at 1-7-2 through ten games, with a combined record across all competitions of 2-9-3. This represents the second-worst start in franchise history. Only once before—in 2012, when the team lost nine straight—has the opening been worse. The last time TFC lost five consecutive matches was in April and May of 2013. The club that finished second in the Supporters' Shield race last season now sits in 26th place in the league standings, while Cincinnati, which entered the day in 24th, has won three straight road matches for the first time in its history.

The absences have been real. Alejandro Pozuelo, the league's reigning MVP and the team's Spanish playmaker, did not dress after being substituted at halftime in a midweek loss to Nashville due to hamstring tightness. Yeferson Soteldo, the winger, is with Venezuela at the Copa America after recovering from his own hamstring injury. Jozy Altidore, worth $3.6 million in salary, remains training separately while the club negotiates his future. All three designated players—the team's most creative and dangerous weapons—were unavailable. Additionally, Toronto has played 25 of its 35 league matches away from home since its last game at BMO Field on September 1, 2020, a consequence of pandemic-related travel restrictions that have left the team perpetually displaced.

Yet the mistakes keep recurring. TFC has conceded a league-worst six goals in the first 15 minutes of play this season. Against Cincinnati, the rot began when Delgado's turnover in front of goal allowed Isaac Atanga to thread a through ball that split the Toronto defence, leaving Cruz unmarked. In the second half, Cincinnati sat deep and compact, inviting Toronto to overcommit. When Acosta scored, the sequence began with a throw-in near midfield, moved through a header by defender Eriq Zavaleta that fell to Japanese midfielder Yuya Kubo, who survived a challenge and drove forward before finding Brandon Vazquez in the box. Vazquez sent the ball back to Acosta, who, with nine Toronto players between him and the goal, curled a beautiful shot past Bono.

Armas made five changes to the starting lineup and shifted to a three-man backline, but the formation change produced no breakthrough. Toronto managed only three shots, with one on target, while Cincinnati fired ten shots with four on target. The team did create chances—Richie Laryea had a fine run that led to a point-blank header by Mark Delgado in the 18th minute, and Dom Dwyer had two goals ruled offside in the second half—but none found the net.

After the match, Armas spoke with the raw emotion of a man searching for answers. "There's a lot of winners in that room," he said. "And winners don't accept this. Imagine our supporters. It's disaster. I'm embarrassed." He acknowledged the missing players and the travel burden but refused to hide behind them. "It's not time to do that," he said. "You've got to figure a solution. You can't accept this." Veteran fullback Justin Morrow, a 12-year member of the club at age 33, offered a similar refrain. "If there's a positive it feels like we are hurting ourselves," he said. "And if we can clean that up then I think there's a lot there for us on the other side."

Toronto's defensive record is the worst in the league. The team has conceded 18 goals in ten games, an average of 1.8 per match. Only Cincinnati, at 2.13 goals conceded per game, has been worse. The team that was built to compete for a championship last season now faces the prospect of digging out of a hole that deepens with each passing week.