TFC earns 5th straight win, becomes first MLS team to clinch playoff berth

CINCINNATI -- League-leading Toronto FC notched its fifth straight win and became the first team to clinch an MLS playoff berth this season with a 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati on Sunday thanks to a first-half goal by Patrick Mullins.



Toronto had to survive a 94th-minute penalty call by Robert Sibiga, who judged Omar Gonzalez had pushed substitute Allan Cruz to the ground as a cross came into the Toronto penalty box. Sibiga pointed to the penalty spot but changed the call in the 96th minute after video review.



Seconds later, Toronto defender Laurent Ciman almost sent a back pass into his own goal.



They were rare moments of excitement in a game that was short on goal-scoring chances but still produced another three points for TFC.



Toronto (11-2-4) is undefeated in seven games (6-0-1), a run that also includes victories over Montreal, New York City FC, Columbus Crew SC, the Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution.



TFC has lost just two of 27 regular-season games (15-2-10) since a 2-0 defeat at the New York Red Bulls on Aug. 3, 2019.



Cincinnati (3-10-4) is going the other direction. It has lost four straight while being outscored 10-0 and has just one win in its last 11 outings (1-7-4). The Orange and Blue have failed to score in 455 minutes.



Toronto striker Ayo Akinola, who was introduced in the second half Sunday, has eight goals -- matching Cincinnati's entire output this season.



Cincinnati's four previous league matches at Nippert Stadium this season all finished 0-0.



Mullins, in just his second start of the season, broke the deadlock in the 29th minute after Richie Laryea squared the ball back from the byline through a mass of bodies. Mullins, with the game's first shot on target, beat goalkeeper Przemys?aw Tyton with a right-footed shot for his first league goal since a 5-1 win in Cincinnati on Sept. 7, 2019.



Alejandro Pozuelo picked up his 10th assist of the season on the play.



Cincinnati lost defender Mathieu Deplagne in the 41st minute and Tyton in the 81st due to injury.



Neither team conjured up much offence in the first half although Toronto dominated with some 60 per cent of possession. Pozuelo came close in the 24th minute but shot just wide.



Cincinnati's best chance in the first half came off a corner in stoppage time when Maikel van der Werff's header flashed just wide.



Cincinnati started the second half stronger after coach Jaap Stam brought on Kamohelo Mokotjo and Siem de Jong. Greg Vanney countered by inserting Pablo Piatti at halftime and Akinola, replacing Mullins, in the 59th minute.



Laryea exited in the 70th minute due to cramps.



Gonzalez's header off a corner went straight into Tyton's hands in the 76th minute. Ciman came on in the 89th minute, 17 minutes after receiving a yellow card for dissent while on the bench.



The contest at an empty Nippert Stadium was Toronto's second straight on artificial turf, following a 1-0 midweek win at New England's Gillette Stadium.



With his club playing the third of five games in 16 days, Vanney made seven changes to the starting 11 in New England. Coming into the lineup were Quentin Westberg, Eriq Zavaleta, Brazil's Auro, Liam Fraser, Jayden Nelson, Gonzalez and Mullins.



It marked the first official league start for Nelson. The 18-year-old midfielder started in Toronto's round-of-16 loss to New York City FC at the MLS is Back Tournament on July 26 but that game did not count in the regular-season standings.



Midfielder Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, who turned 16 in June, was on the Toronto bench,



Prior the match, Toronto announced that backup 'keeper Alex Bono would be out two to three weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated finger suffered in training Saturday. Kevin Silva dressed as Westberg's backup.



Former TFC defender Nick Hagglund started for Cincinnati after missing three games due to COVID-19. Veteran centre back Kendall Waston, a former Vancouver Whitecap, missed out after picking up an injury in training Saturday.



Dutch international forward Jurgen Locadia, one of Cincinnati's designated players, and U.S. international defender Greg Garza were also injured.



Toronto plays the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday and Atlanta United on Sunday with both games at its pandemic home away from home in East Hartford.