Two goals in two minutes help Orlando City defeat Toronto FC

ORLANDO - Two games into the Major League Soccer season and winless Toronto FC is very much a work in progress.

Orlando (1-1-0) scored two goals in two minutes and survived a late Toronto FC rally en route to a 4-2 win in MLS play Saturday.

Cesar Araujo, Alex Freeman, Ramiro Enrique and Dagur Thorhallsson scored for Orlando, which converted all four shots on target. Sigurd Rosted and Deybi Flores replied for Toronto (0-1-1).

"Disappointing," said Toronto coach Robin Fraser, who thought his side paid for ill-discipline in trying to chase the game after going down.

"We go down a couple of goals and then we start trying to push, trying to right the wrongs immediately," he added. "That's really my biggest disappointment as I said to the players. Because they're shown that when they're very disciplined, they're very tough to beat."

After an uneventful opening half-hour at Inter & Co Stadium, Orlando capitalized on its first two shots on target in the 33rd and 35th minutes.

Orlando's other two goals came in the second half, with Toronto's defence torn asunder.

On the plus side, forward Ola Brynhildsen made his Toronto debut in the 65th minute. The Norwegian international last played a competitive game in December so is still working on his game fitness but showed signs that he could fill the void up front. 

Toronto's lack of a No. 9 was evident in the first 45 minutes with no shots on target and Federico Bernardeschi and Canadian Theo Corbeanu struggling to make an impact.

Uruguay's Araujo opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a picture-perfect free kick from outside the penalty box that went over the wall and bounced in off the goalpost past a diving Sean Johnson.

Freeman, a 20-year-old fullback in his first MLS start since signing as an Orlando homegrown player in 2022, doubled the lead two minutes later with his first MLS goal. Kyle Smith's long ball found Freeman behind Markus Cimermancic and Freeman's well-placed shot beat Johnson.

With defenders Robin Jansson and David Brekalo missing, Smith partnered Rodrigo Schlegel at centre back.

Freeman, the son of former NFL receiver Antonio Freeman, had come close to scoring in his own goal in the 18th minute when his chested ball back to Pedro Gallese almost eluded the Peruvian international goalkeeper.

Toronto's defence was cut open in the 63rd with unchallenged Enrique racing down the middle of the pitch and then evading Johnson before slotting the ball home.

Rosted pulled one back in the 72nd minute, rising high to head home a Bernardeschi corner. It was the Norwegian's defender's first goal in his 49th MLS regular-season outing.

Iceland's Thorhallsson, who had just entered the game, restored the three-goal lead in the 81st minute as the Toronto defence was found wanting again.

Flores, a hard-nosed Honduran defensive midfielder not known for his offence, cut the lead to 4-2 with a long-range howitzer of a shot in the 86th minute for his second career MLS goal.

Toronto outshot Orlando 10-9 (4-4 in shots on target) with most of the offence coming when the game was already out of reach. TFC's expected goals was 0.54, compared to 1.78 for Orlando.

Toronto lost Richie Laryea to injury in the 22nd minute after the wingback went down trying to hit a cross with a defender on him.

"He took a knock on his leg," said Fraser, who had yet to get a complete medical report. 

Toronto, which rallied for a 2-2 draw in its season opener at D.C. United last week, has yet to lead this season. Orlando lost 4-2 to visiting Philadelphia.

Fraser went with the same starting 11 but made two changes on the bench with Brynhildsen and 18-year-old defender Lazar Stefanovic replacing Derrick Etienne Jr. and Raoul Petretta, both of whom were listed as questionable.

Once again, there was no place for out-of-favour winger Lorenzo Insigne, who did not make the trip to Florida. Toronto is trying to shed the 33-year-old Italian, whose US$15.4-million salary was second only to Miami's Lionel Messi last year. 

UP NEXT

Toronto FC: Visits FC Cincinnati next Saturday.

Orlando City: Visits New York City FC next Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.