Worrying home woes continue for Toronto FC after loss to NYCFC

Despite some promising signs in recent matches, Toronto FC still sit second-to-dead-last in the MLS Eastern Conference after its loss to NYCFC on Saturday, April 26th.

Toronto remains winless in four home matches at BMO Field after falling 1-0 to NYCFC. For the visitors, it was New York's first road victory of the season. Alonso Martinez netted the only goal of the contest, scoring a penalty in the 64th minute after being fouled just inside the box by Kosi Thompson.

All things told, the penalty was pretty soft, with Martinez looking to draw contact by freezing up his legs in front of Sigurd Rosted. However, Canadian referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere did not overturn his decision after an extremely quick VAR check, which left Thompson furious. One of our pre-match storylines was whether Toronto could shut down Alonso Martinez this weekend, but it's hard to fault anyone for not doing so, given how things unfolded.

Toronto FC unable to find extra gear in final third yet again

We can sit here and analyze the penalty further, but ultimately, it wouldn't have mattered much, as Toronto failed to be clinical in the final third throughout the entire 90 minutes. Whether it was a through ball going out of play or the Reds having back-to-back shots blocked, the hosts could not create any clear chances at goal to threaten New York's Matt Freese.

Scoring continues to be a massive problem for Toronto, as it has been for multiple seasons. Just four clubs have scored fewer goals than Toronto this season, and TFC has scored just two goals in their last four matches.

What will also be a concern for the club is the status of Federico Bernardeschi, who appeared to have an injury when he was substituted in the 70th minute, making way for youngster Tyrese Spicer. Bernardeschi looked like the only forward truly up for it today, albeit even the Italian struggled to create much in the final third. Toronto's injury list is already sizeable, and Bernardeschi joining it would be just another blow in a long list of them.

One of the few bright spots of the contest was the play of Sean Johnson who from open-play action looked extremely good and late in the match prevented Martinez on a one-on-one from scoring his second of the game.

Up next, it's a heated mid-week Canadian Classique battle against CF Montreal for Toronto in the Canadian Championship preliminary round. The ball will start rolling at 7:00 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, April 30th at BMO Field. The match is being streamed by OneSoccer.