In their fourth match of the 2022 Major League Soccer (MLS) regular season, D.C. United lost 2-1 against Toronto FC at BMO Field.
The Black-and-Red started creating chances from the get-go with a long ball over the top from Julian Gressel to find Ola Kamara in the first 30 seconds. Kamara went for goal but Alex Bono kicked it away, only as far as Nigel Robertha. Robertha then took his chance, but Bono saved it again.
At the five-minute mark, Jayden Nelson was open on the left flank, ran to the left side of the box, and took a shot that forced Bill Hamid to push the ball over the crossbar.
D.C. United continued the high press and in the 10th minute, they got the go-ahead goal. Nigel Robertha controlled the ball, beat his defender then crossed the ball in from the left flank to find a wide-open Russell Canouse whose header nestled into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
In the 23rd minute, Toronto found the equalizer after Michael Bradley flicked the ball from the corner and found Alejandro Pozuelo, who put it away from close range.
The Black-and-Red looked to answer quickly with a cross from Andy Najar to find Edison Flores in the box, but his header went wide. Minutes before the end of the half, Sofiane Djeffal received a ball at the edge of the box and took a shot, but it went just wide. Both teams headed into halftime in a 1-1 draw.
D.C. United started the second half on the front foot and within a minute of play, Flores got the ball at the top of the box and took a low-driven shot that went wide.
In the 53rd minute, Luca Petrasso sent a cross to the back post and Jonathan Osorio slid to it, getting a foot on it to beat Hamid and give Toronto the 2-1 lead. Toronto almost added a third goal in the 67th minute when second-half substitute Ifunanyachi Achara found himself one-on-one with Hamid who got down quickly to make the save.
Minutes after, Najar played second-half substitute, Griffin Yow, at the edge of the box. Yow beat two defenders and took the shot that was saved by Bono. Despite the late attempts from D.C. United, they were unable to find an equalizer, ending the game in a 2-1 loss to Toronto.
