Gavran trying to keep Toronto FC in playoff race despite defensive issues

Where would Toronto FC be without goalkeeper Luka Gavran this season?

It’s a question that coach Robin Fraser and his staff must be asking themselves after Saturday’s 2-0 road loss to Nashville SC, TFC’s third consecutive defeat and a result that kept them four spots and four points below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference with seven matches remaining in the MLS regular season.

The 2-0 scoreline rather flattered Toronto, as the damage inflicted by Nashville, the top team in the league, could have been much worse if not for Gavran’s heroics. Nashville carried the bulk of the play over the course of the 90 minutes, enjoying 61.9 per cent possession and a 22 to 11 edge in total shots, and bossed the game for long stretches.

Fortunately for TFC, Gavran prevented the damage that Nashville inflicted from being much worse. Toronto's goalkeeper put in a man-of-the-match effort, making 11 total saves and coming up with some big stops at key moments to keep his team in the game.

Nashville forward Sam Surridge is one of the league's top scorers – he ranks fourth in the Golden Boot race with 16 goals. But Gavran managed to get the better of the Englishman, stopping all three of his shots on target.

Twice in the second half, Gavran robbed Surridge of a sure goal by coming up with highlight-reel saves. He made a fabulous right-handed stop on Surridge’s header from close range and then picked himself to stop Reed Baker-Whiting’s rebound attempt that appeared destined for the lower right corner. Gavran again denied Surridge when he tipped the Nashville forward’s header off a corner kick over the crossbar.

This was nothing new from Gavran, a 26-year-old native of Hamilton, Ont., who has been spectacular at times for TFC this season, routinely standing on his head between the posts behind a porous back line that has given up 51 goals in 2026 – Toronto only conceded 44 in 2025.

He also made club history when he became the first Toronto goalkeeper to score a goal in an MLS game (and only the third goalkeeper in league history), notching an injury-time equalizer in a 3-3 home draw vs. the Philadelphia Union on April 22.

Gavran hasn’t been perfect in his first campaign as an MLS starter. He is prone to make the odd gaffe, and his distribution skills need some work. There was always going to be a bit of a learning curve and settling-in period for Gavran after he patiently bided his time for two and a half years as a backup to Sean Johnson before becoming the club’s starter this year.

The decimating rash of injuries that the club suffered through the first half of the season meant he was continually playing behind an ever-changing back line. That lack of defensive continuity and solidity did him few favours in his first full season as the club's No. 1 shot stopper.

But there’s no question that the Reds would be a lot worse off this year if not for Gavran’s stellar shot-stopping ability. And while Fraser admitted after the Nashville game that it was incredibly comforting knowing he has a goalkeeper who can bail his team out when mistakes happen, the undeniable truth is that TFC have to do a much better job of supporting Gavran, rather than continually hanging him out to dry.

"I thought we let [Luka] down as a team defensively, collectively. He really kept us in it. We really need him like this, but we have to do a better job in front of him to help him out as well," captain Jonathan Osorio admitted.

Elsewhere in MLS this weekend…

The Vancouver Whitecaps remain in first place in the Western Conference following a 3-3 home draw vs. D.C. United, with German legend Thomas Müller scoring a goal and an assist and MVP candidate Brian White scoring his team-leading 17th goal of the campaign. But in conceding a late equalizer and dropping two points, Vancouver allowed second-place FC Dallas to narrow the gap from five to three points.

CF Montreal snapped a five-game losing skid (and a six-match winless run) with a convincing 3-1 home victory over FC Cincinnati courtesy of Prince Owuso’s brace. The German striker now has 15 goals on the season. The win was Montreal’s first since Aug. 19 and only its second in 16 games, and while this was a much-needed result, the club remains dead last in the Eastern Conference and looks destined to miss the playoffs for a second straight year.

A 1-0 road loss to FC Dallas on Saturday proved to be the last straw for Los Angeles FC as the Black and Gold fired Canadian coach Marc Dos Santos less than 24 hours later. Even though LAFC sits sixth in the Western Conference, comfortably in the playoff mix, they only have one win in their last 10 games, which was enough to part ways with Dos Santos, who was promoted from assistant to head coach last December.

Two Western Conference games featured amazing comebacks this weekend. The LA Galaxy dug themselves into a big hole at home when they went down 2-0 to the Colorado Rapids. But LA rebounded by scoring three times in the second half, including an own-goal, to record a come-from-behind 3-2 win.

Austin FC and San Diego FC were tied 0-0 at halftime on Saturday in Texas before the visitors scored three times within the first 19 minutes of the second half. But Austin stormed back by scoring three unanswered goals, including a pair from Christian Ramírez, to come back and earn a share of the points on offer, much to the delight of minority owner Matthew McConaughey.

Talk about leaving it late. Tied 1-1 at home vs. Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, the Columbus Crew secured a dramatic victory thanks to Jamal Thiaré’s goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time. Thiaré’s late winner cancelled out a highlight-reel equalizer from Messi, who leads MLS in goals (21) and assists (13, tied with four others) this season and is in pole position to win an unprecedented third consecutive league MVP award.