TORONTO — Coach John Herdman did not mince words after a costly 4-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls that left Toronto FC's playoff hopes hanging by a thread.
"Not good enough. No excuses, just not good enough," said Herdman. "Not good enough tactically, not good enough with the set-up and not good enough on the pitch."
Dreadful was Herdman's assessment of TFC's first 30 minutes Wednesday.
"We've got to own this. The whole group," he said. "This isn't a player thing. This is a coaching staff too passive and it was a team that was too passive in a game that we had to be strong in."
Toronto (11-18-4, 37 points) started the day ranked eighth in the Eastern Conference and needing a win in its penultimate game of the regular season to strengthen its hold on a playoff wild card with a pack of chasing teams all with a game in hand.
It finished the night in ninth, overtaken by CF Montreal (10-12-10, 40 points) and ahead of Philadelphia (9-13-10, 37 points) and D.C. United (9-13-10, 37 points) on a tiebreaker.
Wednesday's wild game before an announced crowd of 21,575 at BMO Field featured three penalties and a goal called back.
The conference's eighth and ninth seeds meet in a playoff wild-card game. The winner advances to face the first seed in the best-of-three first round.
"We didn't look like a team ready for the playoffs tonight, mentally, emotionally," said Herdman. "We've got two days to turn that around because for whatever reason, we could win this weekend and we're in."
They will need other teams to stumble, however.
Toronto closes out the season Saturday at home to league-leading Inter Miami (20-4-8), which clinched the Supporters' Shield for the best regular-season record after edging Columbus 3-2.
Perhaps the lone positive for TFC is Miami, with nothing to play for Saturday, may leave stars like Lionel Messi at home.
Wednesday's performance was so dire that Toronto's Jonathan Osorio left the field after the game to face upset fans in the south stand.
"It's not easy but as the captain, in these hard times … I felt needed to do that," he said.
Toronto has not made the playoffs since 2020, when it was upset 1-0 by expansion Nashville at the first hurdle.
Bernardeschi, who was Toronto's best scoring threat before losing his cool, will miss Saturday's finale through suspension. And fellow Italian star Lorenzo Insigne, who didn't dress Wednesday, may only make a cameo appearance due to calf strains.
Playing on a bumpy BMO Field pitch that cut up as the game progressed, Toronto conceded a first-half penalty by Emil Forsberg and second-half goals by John Tolkin, Lewis Morgan (another penalty) and Elias Manoel.
Down 2-0, Toronto pulled one back from the penalty spot via substitute Prince Owusu in the 66th minute after Richie Laryea went down after tangling with defender Peter Stroud with the Red Bulls defence left discombobulated by a Bernardeschi shot.
But Morgan scored from the penalty spot three minutes later to restore the visitors' two-goal lead and Manoel added an insurance goal in the 88th minute.
Coming off a 5-1 loss to rival New York City FC, the Red Bulls (11-7-14) arrived winless in six (0-3-3) with just one win in their previous 11 (1-3-7) since a 3-0 victory over Toronto on June 22.
The Red Bulls had more of the ball to start the game and appealed for a penalty after Scottish international Morgan was bodied away from the ball by defender Shane O'Neill in the 23rd minute. Referee Filip Dujic reviewed the play on the pitchside monitor and eventually pointed to the penalty spot, citing a "tripping offence."
Forsberg, in his first start since early June due to injury, converted the penalty in the 27th minute for his seventh of the season.
Kevin Long scored on a header off a Bernardeschi corner in the 39th minute but the celebration was short-lived as the goal was waved off, apparently for an offside Derrick Etienne Jr. interfering with goalkeeper Carlos Coronel. An irate Bernardeschi was booked soon after.
The Red Bulls doubled their lead in the 48th minute with an unmarked Tolkin allowed a shot from just inside the penalty box that beat Sean Johnson.
After Owusu's ninth goal of the season, the Red Bulls got another penalty when O'Neill was called for taking down Cameron Harper in a clumsy attempt to track down an aerial ball. Morgan converted the 69th-minute spot kick for his 13th goal of the season.
Bernardeschi was sent off for the third time this season after pulling down a Red Bull. Manoel scored on a counterattack after Etienne hit the crossbar in the 88th minute.
Toronto, winless in its last four league outings (0-3-1), has gone 4-5-1 in league play since emerging from a nine-game, seven-week winless run (0-7-2).
Herdman made five changes to the starting lineup that drew 1-1 at Chicago on Saturday, with O'Neill, Etienne, Tyrese Spicer, Deybi Flores and Deandre Kerr slotting in
The Red Bulls remained unbeaten in their last 11 meetings with Toronto (7-0-3) — not counting a July shootout loss in Leagues Cup play that followed a scoreless draw in regulation.
TFC hasn't beaten the Red Bulls since July 2019, a 3-1 decision at BMO Field.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
