Columbus Crew (1) - Toronto FC (1) Postgame Summary
MLS Toronto FC

Columbus Crew (1) - Toronto FC (1) Postgame Summary

Published on September 20, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

CLB - Wessam Abou Ali 16' (Max Arfsten)

TOR - Richie Laryea 51' (Jonathan Osorio, Derrick Etienne Jr.)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

TOR - Alonso Coello 34' (caution)

CLB - Daniel Gazdag 42' (caution)

CLB - Ibrahim Aliyu 90+8' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-T)

Columbus Crew 13-7-11 50 points

Toronto FC 5-13-12 27 points

LINEUPS

COLUMBUS CREW - Patrick Schulte; Andrés Herrera, Yevhen Cheberko, Steven Moreira, Malte Amundsen; Hugo Picard, Darlington Nagbe (C), Dylan Chambost (Taha Habroune 74'), Max Arfsten; Daniel Gazdag (Jacen Russell-Rowe 74'), Wessam Abou Ali (Ibrahim Aliyu 32')

Substitutes Not Used: Nicholas Hagen, Evan Bush, Cesar Ruvalcaba, Amar Sejdic, Derrick Jones, Tristan Brown

TORONTO FC - Luka Gavran; Richie Laryea, Sigurd Rosted, Kosi Thompson (Malik Henry 80'), Raoul Petretta (Kobe Franklin 71'); Jonathan Osorio (C), Alonso Coello, José Cifuentes (Lazar Stefanovic 71'), Djordje Mihailovic, Theo Corbeanu (Markus Cimermancic 89'); Derrick Etienne Jr. (Jules-Anthony Vilsaint 89')

Substitutes Not Used: Sean Johnson, Adisa De Rosario, Maxime Dominguez

MEDIA NOTES

Richie Laryea scored his first goal of the 2025 MLS season.

With the assist on Richie Laryea's equalizer, Jonathan Osorio recorded his fifth goal contribution (three goals, two assists) of the 2025 MLS campaign.

With the result, Toronto FC extended their unbeaten streak to six, recording six straight ties dating back to August 9.

ROBIN FRASER - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q: Another draw. Probably not the result you wanted but maybe you can speak about the performance. What did you make of the boys after tonight?

Fantastic and the effort has been fantastic and it remains fantastic. I say this almost every week, but the way we fight as a team, it just makes me so proud. It is a very difficult place to play. They're a very, very good team and I feel like oftentimes they run through teams here and I feel like defensively we're working really well together. Obviously late in the game, they really pushed and there was a lot to deal with and to be fair, we bent but we didn't break and that's on the defending side.

On the attacking side, we see ideas and confidence and understanding between us and overall it was I think a good performance against one of the best teams in league. And it's not the result we want, but at the end of the day I'm looking at the progress and the growth of the group and every week I feel more and more encouraged about the progress and where we're headed. I just feel like we are understanding, our group understanding has gotten so good and we just see guys fight and fight for each other. And for me that's a great place to be. I know it's not ultimately what we want, but it's moving us in the direction of what we want

Q: A lot to like about the goal from the way that he won the ball and then quickly moved to the field and then [Richie] Laryea finished.

It was great. I mean it was funny when he started to take off on the run. I just had flashbacks in 2019 when Richie was just learning the position coming out of right back being so dangerous. And it's interesting he has, since he has become a full-time defender in the last six years and with the Canadian team, his intensity defensively is unreal and it's been really, really good for us. I think he's very, very difficult to play against. He makes it difficult for proponents, but you sometimes forget that this was the original Richie in situations in one-on-one situations. He's really hard to deal with. His pace is incredible. And I think back to 2019 when he was just becoming a fullback and he had several of these sorts of runs that created goals, created penalties, that sort of thing. And I think Richie's game is so well-rounded now.

Q: The decision to start, Derrick [Etienne Jr.], maybe you can just talk about that and what did you make of his performance? He had that nice touch on the buildup of the goal.

Derrick, as we went through the week, I felt like this is a group that this team could benefit from Derrick's diligence and experience defensively. And what he gave us on top of that was some really good hold-up play balls got played into him. He was able to hold him up and keep attacks going. Obviously, he had a couple of really good chances coming off the group defending, including himself. I thought it was a really strong performance for him.

Q: You've talked previously about how you feel bad for not getting the rewards for the efforts. It's now six draws. What's the missing piece in terms of getting over that hump and getting the rewards?

Finishing our chances. I think, and I think what is again encouraging is we are creating more chances and we think about the San Diego game. I don't think we had many chances in that game. We defended really stoutly, but I don't think we had many chances. And I think almost every game after that we're starting to see more and more chances, understanding between the guys how to get out of the first line to where you can be dangerous and create some uncertainty. And as a result we see ourselves creating a few more chances every game and the chances are getting better. And I really feel like it's a growth process and we're watching the team really mature week after week.

Q: I thought [José] Cifuentes was playing an interesting, slightly more advanced role tonight. What did he provide for you at that sort of higher midfield position today?

Cifu's a good final passer. He's a good final passer. He can hold the ball under pressure so when the balls get played into him higher up, he does a good job of holding those. He's an incredibly intelligent player who makes a lot of right decisions, but his strength and his power on the ball I think is beneficial for us. And also, his final passing ability and what you haven't seen yet is that he's really good in front of the goal. He just hadn't really had those opportunities yet.

Q: Sigurd [Rosted] sticking his head into the places where it hurts tonight, just how much did he embody what you guys have been doing over this two, three months?

That's the perfect word. I think he does embody where we have gone. We've become a group that fights and oftentimes it's been Siggy [Sigurd Rosted], Longie [Kevin Long], Laz [Lazar Stefanovic], Kosi [Thompson], Richie [Laryea] and Kobe [Franklin]. The guys who play outside backs, Raoul [Petretta], oftentimes they've had to do a lot of dirty work and they've done it and done it really well. And Siggy tonight putting his head where it needs to be, making final blocks and final saving tackles. I'm just really proud of the whole group because they fight like a team and they fight together.

Q: Lots of opportunities for young guys tonight. I know for everybody it'll be a little bit different, but in general, what are you looking to see from them in these opportunities?

A few things. A few things for sure. One is tactical understanding. Understanding the game plan, understanding what their responsibility is within the game plan and then being able to execute, whether that's defensively or offensively, being able to execute out of the positions that they're in. And then the last piece of it is to see how they battle in difficult situations. And we look at tonight - to be a centre-back and get thrown into this game. Not an easy place. And I thought Laz [Stefanovic] did really well and Cimer [Markus Cimermancic] thrown into the midfield and things were super chaotic and he was extremely calm, made some good decisions out of it, really worked hard defensively. And same for Malik [Henry] and Luka [Gavran], who obviously is a good goalkeeper, but certainly with his opportunities he's done well also.

So I think all the young guys really stood up and did well for themselves. Jules [Anthony Vilsaint) as well. You come into a game late like this and it's very chaotic in a place where it's a really tough place to play given the fans and the quality of the opponent. And I thought we had a number of young guys really step in - Kobe [Franklin], Kosi [Thompson], Kosi a little bit out of position today and guys just fought. And that's what makes me really proud is the fact that regardless of what's going on, this group just shows up and fights for each other.

Q: Is Maxime [Dominguez] okay? I didn't see him in sort of the warmups and it looked like he was just on the bench.

Yeah, he took a knock yesterday in training. Didn't really realize he was going to be out. He was going to try to push as much as he could. And I think late last night we said his foot bruise just wasn't going to work. I think he'll be fine in a week.

Q: It's nothing serious?

No, I don't think so. It's one of those that really hurts for a few days. I think he should be fine by next week.

LAZAR STEFANOVIC - DEFENDER, TORONTO FC

Q: You guys grind it out, probably not the result you wanted, but what did you make of the team's effort tonight?

I think the team battled well and we got back into the game after going down early and coming into the game, we knew that this is a stadium where teams often have trouble coming to and getting a result. And in the end, we didn't get the three points, but we salvaged something out of it. And I think over these last couple of games that we've shown that we can compete with the best. And I think understanding that there's no more chance for playoffs, but we're building something here and we're using these games to our advantage to continue to build. And like Robin [Fraser] said, we have something to play for, our pride and we go into every game trying to win it. So hopefully, what is it, five, six draws in a row? It's been a minute since we've been able to pick up three points, but I mean I'm sure with the way we're playing eventually our luck's going to turn on our side.

Q: How tough is it to come here and play this [Columbus] Crew side because they are a quality side?

Yeah, I mean they're definitely, I don't have to say the statistics, they're one of the best teams when it comes to having the ball and creating chances and all that stuff. So, I think there were moments where you have to be ready, you could understand where you're going to have to bend, but I think we didn't break in this game, and I think that's an important thing. Like I said earlier, we battled back into the game and once we went down one-zero early, Robin [Fraser] just spoke with us after in the locker room. He said he had no worries. He knew we were going to battle and fight back, and eventually we got our chance and Richie [Laryea] put it away.

Q: You come in late at an interesting time where they were really sort of pressing and kind of really pinning you guys. How tough was it just to see things out over those last 15 minutes and then the six minutes of stoppage time?

I mean, yeah, towards the end they started having a couple of chances and starting to add some more pressure. But it's one of those things where I don't think they had anything that really, really tested us and we defended well. We always worked for each other. We watch the video back for every game and everyone's always tracking back, making sure they're putting full effort. And yeah, I mean we ended up, once we got the goal back once were tight and try to limit things and in the end the game ended with a draw.

Q: How frustrating is it? Is it because six draws in a row and you guys have been sort of competitive in all those games? I don't know that you've been outplayed in any of them, but you haven't been able just to get over that hump and collect the three points.

Yeah, I understand. I mean, especially in the last game [vs. New England Revolution]. With that last minute equalizer, it's one of those things where there has been games like that in the season where we're leading late and unfortunately, we just switched off for that last moment. And those chances that we've had to pick up three points, we've ended up not getting the three points and having settled for a draw. So, I think, like I said, it's all about continuing to do what we do, and I think there has to be, or eventually there's going to be a change of luck on our side and we're keeping ourselves in games and that's the most important thing.

Q: There's been a bit of a pattern in TFC matches over this spell where the first half you guys are kind of battling for control in the game, getting a feel for the opponent, and then the second half we really see a renewed effort. Maybe just what's been behind that? What's going through the mind of the guys?

Yeah, I mean it's tough to say what exactly it is. I mean, at the beginning of games it has been the trend where I guess we're trying to still find our footing in those first 15, 20 minutes, but once we get past that point, we start to play the way we want to play. The way we've been training, I don't know how to explain it specifically, but it's just one of those things where we just got to be ready more from the opening whistle and make sure we don't put ourselves on the back foot right away. I think one of our things as a team that we've been, especially in the second half of the year, working on, is having that fighting mindset and fighting back into games. And even though today we conceded early, we're trying to stay in games and we're never going to give up, even if it's one, it's okay, we can get back into it. We're just trying to find solutions to figuring that out.

Q: Nice goal from Richie [Laryea] today, how much is he one of those guys that really drives that attitude in the group?

Yeah, I mean, I've talked about Richie [Laryea] before in interviews. He's one of our most important players and whenever he is on the field, teams hate playing against him. And when you're on his team, you love to have him. So, he's obviously a big player for the team and it was good for him to get the goal and get the team back into the game. And I think since he's come back into the team having missed the first half of the season, I think we've seen a real change in the team. Like I mentioned before, that fighting mindset and that fighting ability, I think it kind of stems from him. So, we're glad to have Richie [Laryea] back and hopefully he stays healthy, and he can help us get results.

Q: Robin [Fraser] said this was a hard game to come into. Maybe just what's your mindset going out there? What are you focusing on when you get this chance?

I think coming into the game, understanding that I wasn't a starter coming into the game, understand that I have to be ready for whatever opportunity I get thrown into, and obviously I get thrown into a moment of the game where the game's drawn and there's still some time left. So, there's still that ability to win the game, but also understanding my role as a defender. When you're getting subbed in late, you want to hold the score where it's at, at least from a defensive standpoint. So, I think for me, coming into the game, just trying to make myself imposing and try and make sure that once I'm in the game I don't feel like I've just got into the game. It's like I've already been a part of the game and getting ready to go.

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