Toronto FC ended its long skid against FC Cincinnati with a 1-0 win at TQL Stadium, and Dániel Sallói decided it in the 86th minute. Richie Laryea chased down a poorly thrown restart from Roman Celentano, then slipped a through-ball to Sallói for the only goal.
The result extended Toronto’s unbeaten run since that earlier loss to Cincinnati, while FC Cincinnati was left with two wins and four losses through its first six matches of the 2026 MLS season. That record has become harder to ignore as Cincinnati has dropped three of its last four competitions and conceded 18 goals in that span.
For Pat Noonan, the issue was bigger than one mistake or one position group. “Our best XI is, I think, TBD, because we’re conceding too many goals,” he said after the match. He added that it was “not just your goalkeeper” and “not just the back line,” pointing instead to how the ball advances past Cincinnati’s pressure and into its box.
That frustration fits a month-long stretch that has left Cincinnati searching for answers. A month before this loss, the club had hosted Toronto and fallen 1-0 at TQL Stadium. Toronto entered that match having given up six goals in its first two matches, then drew 1-1 with Red Bull New York the following weekend before beating Columbus Crew 2-1 and Colorado Rapids 3-2 in its next two games.
Toronto also arrived with a clear scheduling edge. It had no CONCACAF Champions Cup match to juggle, and the Canadian Championship was still in its early stages, leaving the club room to manage its load more comfortably. Cincinnati, by contrast, has had to absorb the damage from a defense that Noonan says is still too easy to play through.
“It’s so many things that we have to correct to be tougher to play against and better defensively,” he said. “So, I think that’s still not just one component of our team or our structure, it’s the whole thing that needs to be more connected and more disciplined.”
