Los Angeles FC (2) - Toronto FC (0) Postgame Summary
MLS Toronto FC

Los Angeles FC (2) - Toronto FC (0) Postgame Summary

Published on October 9, 2025 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

LAFC - Jeremy Ebobisse 13'

LAFC - Frankie Amaya 69' (Eddie Segura)

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

LAFC - Mark Delgado 17' (caution)

TOR - Kosi Thompson 58' (caution)

TOR - Alonso Coello 90+9' (ejection)

RECORDS (W-L-T)

Los Angeles FC 17-7-8 59 points

Toronto FC 5-14-14 29 points

LINEUPS

LOS ANGELES FC - Hugo Lloris (C); Sergi Palencia, Ryan Porteous, Nkosi Tafari, Artem Smolyakov (Ryan Hollingshead 66'); Andrew Moran (Yaw Yeboah 76'), Eddie Segura, Mark Delgado (Jailson 84'); Timothy Tillman, David Martínez (Frankie Amaya 66'), Jeremy Ebobisse (Alexandru Băluță 76')

Substitutes Not Used: Thomas Hasal, Kenneth Nielsen, Ryan Raposo, Adrian Wibowo

TORONTO FC - Sean Johnson (C); Kobe Franklin, Sigurd Rosted, Kosi Thompson, Raoul Petretta; Alonso Coello, Theo Corbeanu, Maxime Dominguez (Malik Henry 83'), Djordje Mihailovic, José Cifuentes (Markus Cimermancic 76'); Jules-Anthony Vilsaint (Deandre Kerr 76')

Substitutes Not Used: Adisa De Rosario, Lazar Stefanovic, Nathaniel Edwards

MEDIA NOTES

Djordje Mihailovic made his 200th Major League Soccer appearance, split between Chicago Fire, CF Montréal, Colorado Rapids and Toronto FC.

Jules-Anthony Vilsaint started his first match for TFC.

MEDIA ASSETS

Media assets including match photos and post-match press conference from Head Coach Robin Fraser and forward Theo Corbeanu are available HERE.

ROBIN FRASER - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q: You had said that you were facing a team in good form and with a deep roster despite missing some top players, but this must be a disappointing result, I would think. All the hard work you did and giving up two goals, defensive blunders, under pressure.

The answer is yes. It is disappointing because I thought we did well with the ball. We were able to make our way up the field. We had a lot of possession. We didn't turn enough of it into being threatening. So that is a little bit disappointing. Very happy to see the movement, the comfort level on the ball, the ability to play through them. But once we get to the very end, we weren't effective enough. And then really two, just needless mistakes. And Sean [Johnson] makes an incredible save on the penalty to keep us in the game. And then shortly afterwards we make another mistake. So, it was really a backbreaker. I think the second goal was.

Q: How would you evaluate Alonso's [Coello] overall performance tonight?

Overall, his performance was good. I think he looked tired. I think some of our guys looked tired, but overall, Alo [Alonso Coello] has become a real focal point of starting attacks for us. And you could see still after the mistake, guys are willing to give him the ball under pressure because they trust him so much. So, I thought obviously the first goal is a huge mistake, but outside of that I thought he was quite solid. And then toward the end, I just think the team was pushing so hard, fatigue, fatigue. Got us and Alo [Alonso Coello] as well.

Q: Djordje [Mihailovic] couldn't seem to find much joy tonight. Is the team making enough space for him or getting him the ball in the right areas?

Well, I would say that the middle of the field was very crowded tonight, and you saw in the second half he got more space on the left side. And I just think the way they defended it was always going to be difficult. In the setup that we were in today, it was going to be very tight spaces, very small windows, and guys have to play them in there and at times he's got to roam around and find different spaces. And I thought in the second half we saw a bit more of him as he found some room on the right side with Raoul [Petretta] pinning the wing back and Djordje getting it underneath. But it's been certainly a big part of what we're doing is trying to get Djordje on the ball more. We would like to have gotten him on the ball in the middle of the field, but the middle of the field is very crowded, and I thought he did a good job of finding space elsewhere.

Q: Just a six-man bench and a very young one, the cupboard was just bare?

It certainly felt that way. Certainly, we had some young guys, guys came in, did well, I thought Cimer [Markus Cimermancic] came in and did well and Malik [Henry] gave a good effort for the time that he was in. Jules [Anthony Vilsaint] had a start tonight, so it was definitely, I mean, I think we miss Oso [Jonathan Osorio], we miss his leadership, his intensity. We obviously also miss Richie [Laryea], but they were missing players too. And it's just the nature of the beast in this league and when you play through the international break, you're going to miss some of your players and it's really up to the rest of the group. And I thought that in spite of all that, we had decent possession. We looked like we were in decent control. Obviously, we had to deal with some counter attacks as we were chasing the game. But yeah, it definitely felt a little bit thin tonight.

Q: A first start tonight for Jules [Anthony Vilsaint] after he came off the bench in his previous five appearances. How would you grade his effort on the evening?

His effort was fantastic, and his awareness I thought was really good. I would like to have seen us put more balls in the box, let him battle for some things in front of the goal. He had some good holdup moments. He had a couple of moments that he turned and looked to be threatening. Overall, I thought it was a decent performance for sure, and certainly a very aware and conscientious performance. He didn't look like a young kid who was lost, not at all. And I thought he did pretty well.

Q: That first goal almost looked like he [Alonso Coello] wasn't aware that he was there the way he turned into him [Jeremy Ebobisse].

I didn't see it to be honest. I looked away and as I looked up, the play had already occurred, but I know that we play Alo [Alonso Coello] in tight spaces all the time, and his awareness of what's around him is pretty elite and he doesn't normally get stuck or caught. And to be honest, I still haven't seen the exact play, but he had a giveaway earlier in the season that led to a goal against Columbus, and I was asked, what do you think of that? He's so good at starting attacks that you have to trust him and he's going to make some mistakes. He's a young player. I don't know if he's ever played this much. I don't know if he's ever been this much of a focal point, but he has a real elite awareness of what's around him and an ability to find entry passes. That's I think, really exceptional. When you have a player like that, he's going to take some chances and you'd like to think as time goes on, the mistakes become fewer and fewer. But he's somebody who's been very valuable to us in this run where we've played pretty well.

Q: What did you make that red card at the end?

I was ranting and raving about what a nonsensical card it was, and I hadn't seen it properly and I saw a quick clip on the phone, and it didn't look that bad. I didn't see the whole thing, the whole plate. And again, I was ranting and raving about officiating. And then two things happened almost simultaneously. Alo [Alonso Coello] walked in, and I asked him what happened, and he goes, I did end up getting him with my studs and I went back, and I saw the full picture and now I have nothing to say.

Q: I'm wondering how much of tonight was just an example of the difference between a team that's eight months or really just four months into their development versus a team that's got a couple of years in?

I really think that's a great question. We feel like we've made real strides this year in terms of our cohesion and playing like a team. And late in the year, we're looking at players, we're trying different things. I mean, we've rolled out a diamond for the last two days and our last two games and we haven't trained it very much. And so, we are still looking for what is the best setup for us. Is it two forwards, is it one forward? Is it five in the back, is it four in the back? So, we're still experimenting. We are definitely in the building phase of this project, and we've seen really good progress throughout the year. Obviously, we've talked constantly about the fact that we've defended well, and we need to get sharper and sharper in the attacking end. And today was another example of us taking steps. And I know that the result isn't anything that any of us want, but it also gives us answers as we're looking at the possible way forward for the brewery. So that, opposed to a team that's been really in good form for a number of years. So, they've been through that process, and we are at the beginning of it.

Q: A bit of a break now, but one last game at home, maybe just how do you want to close out the season?

I just said to the group that we've done pretty well for the last two months. We've done mostly well, but we still are talking about getting over the hump and playing a complete 90 minutes and defending well and attacking well and being threatening and creating chances. I think throughout this two-month period, you could say, I think I just mentioned four things you could say, we've done three of the four things, any three of the four for the last couple of months. And really the emphasis is to have this last game be us trying to put everything together and having as complete a performance as possible. And ultimately, I usually talk about doing things the right way and you emphasize that rather than the result, but I've kind of put it on them and said we want to end the season the right way at home, a complete performance, and with a win. And it's against a very good team and I'm well aware of that, but that's going to be our mindset throughout training of next week and getting into the game.

THEO CORBEANU - FORWARD, TORONTO FC

Q: Disappointing result against a very tough team on the road. How would you sort of evaluate the team's performance on the pitch tonight?

Yeah, like you said, we played a very good team today, but the reality is it wasn't good enough today. And although we had spurts where we showed some very good buildup with the ball, we had good possession at times, I felt like it was just that final bit which was missing. And that's the truth of today. And we needed to be not just more clinical, but a little bit more direct. We lacked that final ball in certain moments. And yeah, obviously we're a new side and some players today, we haven't played together. So yeah, today's one of those days. It's a difficult day. I mean, I have a very bad feeling right now from this game, so I can't say too much more than that. But although the final result was a loss, I felt like there were still things that we can take, positives that we can take from this game. I actually thought we kept possession very well at times and we were on the front foot, but like I said, it was just that final ball it and yeah, that's it.

Q: Robin [Fraser] was just telling us that this is only the second game that a diamond was used in the midfield and you guys hadn't really trained much and that you guys are still trying to find the right roadmap, so to speak, in formation and things like that. That must make it difficult for you guys as you're trying to find your way.

I mean, yeah, we're players and we need to adapt and we need to listen to whatever the gaffer says and try and apply that as well as we can. Like you said, it's a new formation. We haven't had a lot of time, like you said, to play under this formation. However, we tried our best really to make it work. And yeah, I thought that obviously, like you said, even though it's a new formation, at times I thought we found good passes, we linked up well with each other, but it was just that final bit just to get into that final third and get that opportunity to create something. And even when we were in those areas, I felt like we got something out of it, we got a corner or we made a deep progression. So those are all good things, but today it just didn't connect and that's the truth, specifically in the final third.

So it is one of those days, but again, we're going to be working and we have one more week, we have one last game. And I felt like although today's the case, I thought this past two months has been a very good period for our team. I feel like we've gelled very well and we've put some very good performances on the road at home, and we got some very good results. Obviously eight draws, it's not ideal at all, but even if we compare it to the beginning of the season, it's massive progress for the side and for us players, it's a really big boost in our morale knowing that we can compete against these teams. And yeah, today's not a good day. However, I don't think anything should be ignored of these past couple months and how we've played and how we've competed. And even today we competed, but like I said, it was just the difference of one team being more clinical than the other and having better opportunities. So we're going to be working to change that and to start being a little bit more ruthless in the final third, in the attack, finishing our attacks, getting better attacks, making better decisions. And that's something for myself that I am looking to work on personally and obviously from a team perspective as well.

Q: Both goals tonight came in transition moments more or less. Did it feel a little bit like LAFC was setting traps for you guys out there?

I mean, yes, it was a little bit unlucky. I mean, the first one's a little bit of a lapse in concentration, but a player like Alonso [Coello] - he makes that mistake but he's been phenomenal. He's been so good for us and we trust him on the ball and he's always on the ball and he's such a technical player and these things happen. I mean, for example, it happens to the very best. I can remember even Steven Gerrard for Liverpool had that slip but that doesn't count him as a bad player.

Alo's a very talented player. It happens to the best of us. That's just a bit of a lapse in concentration. But obviously I can't praise him enough for what he's brought to the side in the past couple months throughout the whole season. So these things, again, these things happen. I thought, although even though we conceded, we were very brave and we were testing each other under difficult circumstances, and we actually got out of the press on a few occasions too, remarkably. So that I can say is definitely a big positive.

Then the second goal, again, it's one of those, it's shit. That's the truth. That's the word for it. It's shit when it happens. But again, Cifu [José Cifuentes] is a player who we trust so much on the ball. He's obviously come in and he's made a big impact to our side. And again, nothing's personal. It happens to the best of us. I mean, I think everyone's had a slip up in their career and this is just one of those games. It's annoying, but we got to move on from it. And these two in particular are two huge players for us, two key players, and that we trust so much on the ball. And sometimes in these difficult circumstances, when you're under a lot of pressure, these things happen. So we're going to be looking to bounce back in this next game and finish this season off on a high.

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