Toronto FC (1) - Philadelphia Union (2) Postgame Summary

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MLS Toronto FC

Toronto FC (1) - Philadelphia Union (2) Postgame Summary

May 28, 2025 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Toronto FC News Release


SCORING SUMMARY

TOR - Ola Brynhildsen 75' (Deybi Flores)

PHI - Nathan Harriel 86' (Kai Wagner)

PHI - Kai Wagner 90+2'

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

PHI - Tai Baribo 89' (caution)

PHI - Alejandro Bedoya 90+7' (caution)

RECORDS (W-L-T)

Toronto FC 3-9-4 13 points

Philadelphia Union 10-3-3 33 points

LINEUPS

TORONTO FC - Sean Johnson; Henry Wingo (Sigurd Rosted 46'), Zane Monlouis (Kevin Long 78'), Raoul Petretta; Derrick Etienne Jr., Alonso Coello (Matty Longstaff 86'), Deybi Flores, Jonathan Osorio (C), Tyrese Spicer; Theo Corbeanu, Ola Brynhildsen (Charlie Sharp 86')

Substitutes Not Used: Luka Gavran, Lazar Stefanovic, Maxime Dominguez, Markus Cimermancic, Lorenzo Insigne

PHILADELPHIA UNION - Andre Blake (C); Frankie Westfield, Jakob Glesnes, Nathan Harriel, Kai Wagner; Quinn Sullivan (Ben Bender 83'), Jesus Bueno (Danley Jean Jacques 67'), Jovan Lukic, Indiana Vassilev (Alejandro Bedoya 76'); Tai Baribo, Bruno Damiani (Mikael Uhre 67')

Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Rick, Olivier Mbaizo, Olwethu Makhanya, Cavan Sullivan, Jeremy Rafanello

MEDIA NOTES

Matty Longstaff made his 50th appearance for Toronto FC across all competitions, becoming the 13th active TFC player to reach the milestone.

ROBIN FRASER - HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC

Q: Kind of a kick in the gut evening. How do you react?

That's one way to say it. How do I react to it? I'm incredibly disappointed. The work that they did for the 85 minutes was unbelievable. Just they fought and this is a very, very difficult team to deal with. You have to be up for the physical battle. And for 85 minutes, we were very good. We were very good. So, I was just really disappointed.

Q: You've talked before about key moments in games, sort of being the downfall sometimes. Was that the case again tonight, do you think?

Yeah, I just think that our intensity and our engagement was excellent. Excellent. The work was so good. I was so proud of what they did for the first, I don't know, 85, 86 minutes, whatever it was. I just said that from the performance they put on today, they were too good to let that slip away. And that's really the disappointment. And it would've been an unbelievable game for their confidence because they completely earned everything up to that point. And that's the part that disappoints me is that they don't get the reward for what they did. And I thought what they did for 95% of the game, 98% of the game was really, really good.

Q: How do you see the Philadelphia goals? I mean the second goal was a fluke goal off a deflection, the first goal off a corner.

Yeah, I mean the problem is I believe the second goal was a second phase of a corner. And set plays are incredibly important in the game. And it's funny how set plays can seem like an afterthought, but at the end of the day, so many games are decided by set plays and its concentration, engagement. It's all those things that either make you successful or unsuccessful on set pieces on either side of the ball. And it was just disappointing and maybe it was a great service and a great header, but there's always something you can do. There's always something you can do in terms of getting a body on someone, making it, making it difficult for them and it's incredibly disappointing.

Q: Your thoughts on Ola [Brynhildsen] who scored a spectacular goal and took a beating all night?

When he scored the goal, the first thing that went through my mind is the question I was asked last week, two weeks ago, last week. Have we seen the best of him? Is this the best of him? And I think he's really good. I think he's really good. His ability to hold the ball, his willingness to run, his willingness to run offensively, his willingness to run defensively. You look at him and you don't think he's very big. How physical can he be? He is an absolute physical specimen, and he scored a fantastic goal That is such a forward goal. As he was approaching the box, I'm thinking, where's he going to go? Tough angle on his right foot balls out here. And in that situation, really the safest place is high near post. And you wonder how many people are thinking that and he executes it to perfection.

Q: Where do you go from here, after such a demoralizing.

You pick yourself up, you have another one Saturday, and you do it for 90 minutes on Saturday. That's where you go from here.

Q: What did you say to the players afterwards?

Exactly what I told you, that they're too good to play this well and this hard and to walk out of here with nothing? That's exactly what I told them. And so proud of what they did for 98% of the game, it was incredible. And I look at our results and I know what people think and what they think about the team, but I was really, really proud of them. That was a very, very good performance against a very difficult team in tough conditions. Wind, rain, the whole thing that really plays into how they play. They're very good at getting the ball forward. They're very good at combining each other at speed. And when it's windy and wet, then things kind of bounce all over the place and they're very, very good at that. And for us to match them for a long period of the game, I was really, really proud and ultimately very disappointed. My biggest disappointment, as I said, is that they don't get the reward for what was really a very, very good performance. And as a team and as an individual, it's very hard to feel that the satisfaction of the work being done when in the end you get no points for it.

OLA BRYNHILDSEN - FORWARD, TORONTO FC

Q: How do you sum up an evening like that? You hold the best team in the east for almost the entire game. You score a beautiful goal, you get beaten up all night and then it ended the way it did. How do you sum up an evening like that?

Obviously, it doesn't feel good, as you said, we worked so hard. I think we really played well. Everyone was on, we were fighting. It was, we beat Philadelphia in their own game, physical and running, and then we don't reward ourselves with winning a game, so it's tough one. Yeah.

Q: How demoralizing is this?

I mean, it sucks. We show that we can't really play well and really come up against the big teams in this league. We show we can play better than them and then we switch off the last five minutes and ruined a perfect game for us. So yeah, it's not a good feeling.

Q: Am I right in saying you had family here for the game?

Yeah.

Q: Can you tell us who was here?

My mom and my stepdad came right from the airport to the game. So maybe that helped a little bit.

Q: You took your chance. Can you talk about how the play unfolded for you? I mean, Deybi [Flores] played a really nice ball for you and then you really made a great, fantastic run and a fabulous finish.

Yeah. I felt like people haven't used me enough on what I'm good at and yeah, when I get the chance, when I get the balls in behind, I feel I can create something and that's been lacking the previous games, but I really felt that we created our space and people knew where I was going to run and obviously when I get the chance I just need more of those balls and they need to use me like that and I will try to score more.

Q: You had a bunch of little niggling things and you hadn't played a lot before you got here, but you seem to found your rhythm now. How do you feel in terms of your game?

I mean, I'm pretty beat up now. I have a swollen ankle and some, it was a fight, but it's nothing that's going to affect me, I think. So, I can handle a little bit of pain, so hopefully I can keep going.

Q: A pretty quick turnaround to Saturday's game. What are the guys saying to each other to put this behind you?

Obviously, it's a lot of frustrations, but the good thing is that next game comes fast, so we can't dwell on this. We have to let this one sink in tonight and show up tomorrow and be ready for Saturday.

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