Toronto FC concede late, settle for 1-1 draw vs Cincinnati
Toronto FC settled for a 1-1 draw against FC Cincinnati, despite leading until stoppage time after an own goal. The tie marked Toronto’s fifth unbeaten match and raised their season points to 11. Coach Robin Fraser expressed frustration over dropped points, especially given Cincinnati played with 10 men. The team is looking to improve for their next match.
Toronto FC were minutes away from a third straight win, but a stoppage-time equalizer from a 10-man FC Cincinnati side forced a 1-1 draw Saturday at BMO Field.
The result extends Toronto’s unbeaten run to five matches (3-0-2) and moves the club to 3-2-2 on the season with 11 points, but the late concession left a sense of frustration after controlling much of the match.
“We’ve given up three goals while being up a man in the last two weeks, and that should never happen,” head coach Robin Fraser said. “At the end of the day, you still get a point, but it feels like two points lost.”
Toronto took the lead in the 83rd minute through an own goal. Josh Sargent played a ball into the box that deflected off Cincinnati centre back Gilbert Flores and into the net, putting the hosts ahead after a tightly contested match.
The breakthrough came against a Cincinnati side that had been reduced to 10 men just over 10 minutes earlier. Forward Kevin Denkey was sent off in the 71st minute after receiving a second yellow card, leaving the visitors to defend for the final stretch.
Instead, Cincinnati found a way back.
Deep into stoppage time, Kenji Mboma Dem finished a counter-attack with a left-footed strike from the centre of the box, assisted by Ayoub Jabbari, to level the match at 1-1. The goal capped a resilient effort from the visitors, who managed to create one of their clearest chances of the game despite the numerical disadvantage.
Toronto controlled early phases but struggled to translate possession into consistent scoring opportunities. Both teams finished with four shots on target, reflecting a match that lacked sustained attacking pressure despite stretches of control.
Goalkeeper Luka Gavran played a key role in keeping the match level through the first hour. He made an early stop on Tom Barlow in the sixth minute and followed it with a critical intervention in first-half stoppage time, punching away a header from Matt Miazga.
Gavran continued that form in the second half, including a save on a Nick Hagglund header in the 54th minute that preserved the scoreline.
“We’re definitely not happy with the result, but we’re not too hard on ourselves,” Gavran said. “We wanted three points, but we’re still gaining points and moving in the right direction.”
Toronto’s best chance before the breakthrough came in the 58th minute, when Dániel Sallói found Sargent in the box. The forward struck from close range but sent his effort just wide.
Fraser pointed to a lack of cutting edge in the final third as a key issue, particularly after a strong opening period.
“I thought we started really well and had good control,” Fraser said. “But in those moments, we didn’t create enough actual danger.”
The match also highlighted the impact of absences within the squad. Toronto was without Djordje Mihailovic, who is expected to miss approximately eight weeks with a pelvic stress fracture, and defender Walker Zimmerman, who was a late scratch due to calf tightness.
Fraser acknowledged those losses but did not attribute the dropped points solely to missing personnel.
Despite the late setback, Toronto extended its home unbeaten run to 11 matches, reinforcing its consistency at BMO Field. However, conceding in a man-advantage situation for the third time in recent weeks remains a concern as the team looks to build on its early-season form.
The Reds will look to respond quickly when they host Austin FC next Saturday, aiming to convert control into results and avoid similar late outcomes.
