It looks like star forward Josh Sargent has started to turn a corner with Toronto FC, and his timing couldn’t be any better.
Sargent ended a five-game goal drought when he scored the opener in last week’s 2-1 road win over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. In the Reds’ previous match, a 3-3 home draw with Charlotte FC, he collected an assist after he made a brilliant solo run in setting up teammate Markus Cimermancic’s first career goal for the club.
The U.S. international had only two goal contributions in his previous nine appearances dating back to April 11 for a Toronto side that sat near the bottom of the table in the Eastern Conference while being decimated by injuries. But TFC are slowly getting back to full fitness and Sargent’s recent offensive contributions helped them climb back into the thick of the playoff race as the regular season enters the home stretch.
Sargent will look to keep his momentum going when Toronto hosts New York City FC at BMO Field on Saturday in a rematch of last month’s 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium.
“I think, overall, individually and as a team, it's clear it's been a bit of a struggle for everybody. We haven't played the best, but I think we're all looking forward now. We've had a really good week, and we all just want to keep improving,” Sargent said this week.
“I know I can keep improving, keep doing better. Everybody can. I want to keep doing better, keep scoring goals and keep getting goal contributions.”
All strikers go through stretches when they’re not scoring. It happens to the best of them. Nobody is immune.
The key for a struggling forward to get back on track is having faith that the little things they do will help them rediscover their scoring touch. Trusting the process is critical, no matter how long the goal drought lasts.
“As a striker, you're always judged on goals, so every striker goes through it,” Sargent explained. "It's a mental battle you kind of have to deal with. But at the same time, you have to come back to, if you're doing the right things in the games, making the right runs, trying to get in the right positions, the goals will come, eventually. Just sticking to your process and trying to do the right things, the goals will eventually come."
It’s been approximately six months since Sargent, a 26-year-old from Missouri, signed with TFC following a transfer from English outfit Norwich City. He hasn’t exactly let MLS alight — Sargent's offensive production of four goals and two assists in 14 games can be characterized as modest.
But Sargent’s stellar defensive work and runs off the ball to create space for teammates have been exemplary and haven’t gone unnoticed by coach Robin Fraser, who stood by the DP forward amidst criticism from fans and the media.
“He's a great guy, great coach, and he seemed to have my back from Day 1, and it means a lot to have that support," Sargent said. "It gives me the confidence to keep pushing and keep moving forward. I think he knows, and I know, what I bring to the table and what I can do. And, again, I think it's been a good week personally as well. So, I just want to keep building off that and keep working hard for the team."
If goals come more regularly for Sargent, don’t expect him to suddenly abandon the solid defensive work he’s put in for TFC in recent weeks in which he’s served as the team’s first line of defence.
That’s simply not how Sargent has operated during his career. He doesn’t know any other way.
“From a very young age, I've been the type of guy that I want to be one of the hardest-working guys on the team,” Sargent said. "It doesn't sit right with me if I'm not working as hard as I can for the guys on the team with me. It doesn't feel fair. So, I've always kind of had that mentality, and it's just stuck with me throughout my professional career."
Elsewhere in MLS this weekend:
• It’s a battle of the best and worst teams in the Western Conference on Saturday when the first-place Vancouver Whitecaps visit bottom-dwelling Sporting Kansas City. Vancouver tops the West with 40 points and has almost as many wins (12) as Kansas City has losses (14). A whopping 25 points separates the clubs in the table and things didn’t go so smoothly for Sporting the last time they faced the Whitecaps, suffering a 3-0 loss in Vancouver on April 17.
• Forward Alexis Sanchez has been limited to two appearances off the bench totalling 39 minutes since joining CF Montreal as a free agent signing earlier this month. The Chilean star could earn his first start in MLS on Saturday when Montreal visits Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. It’ll be a reunion of sorts for Sanchez and Messi, who were teammates at FC Barcelona from 2011-14, when the Chilean scored 46 goals in 141 games.
• Two of the league’s youngest stars will go head-to-head on Saturday when the New York Red Bulls welcome the Philadelphia Union to Sports Illustrated Stadium. Forward Julian Hall, 18, leads New York in scoring this season with nine goals (and five assists) in 21 MLS starts. Philadelphia midfielder Cavan Sullivan, 16, has netted five goals and registered a team-high seven assists.
• St. Louis City SC is undoubtedly the hottest team in MLS, riding an 11-game unbeaten streak (eight wins) that dates back to May 9. The Midwestern club will look to keep its unbelievable run going on Sunday as it hosts FC Dallas at Energizer Park. Dallas won’t roll over for St. Louis, though, especially not with Croatian forward Petar Musa, the league’s top scorer (16 goals and two assists), in fine form.
• The Rocky Mountain Cup, the regular-season series between the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake, will be awarded on Saturday, when the two sides meet in Colorado. Salt Lake holds the advantage as it earned a 2-1 home win over Colorado on May 16, so a draw would be good enough to see the Utah-based club win the Cup for a third season in a row.
• The Seattle Sounders tangle with the Chicago Fire on Saturday in an interconference match that will likely mark Dejan Joveljić’s debut for the club from the Northwest. Seattle acquired the Serbian forward in a trade with Kansas City earlier this week after plundering 26 goals in 52 regular-season matches for Sporting over the last season and a half. The Sounders are hoping that Joveljić can help them get back on track — Seattle is winless in nine MLS matches (eight losses).
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 27 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.