TFC Republic Weekly: August 24-30
Fresh off an upset win over Inter Miami, Toronto FC returns to BMO Field this week for the first of three consecutive home games.
Welcome to the latest edition of TFC Republic Weekly, an email newsletter that will land in the inbox of both paid subscribers and free members of TFC Republic every Monday.
This newsletter will look at what's in store over the next seven days for Toronto FC, and also get a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.
So, without further ado...
Toronto FC upset MLS Cup champs Inter Miami on the road
Who saw this coming? A Toronto FC side who has been decimated by injuries and struggled for results came up with one of its best performances of the season in earning a 2-1 win over Inter Miami on Saturday in its first ever visit to Nu Stadium.
Josh Sargent and Derrick Etienne Jr scored second-half goals in quick succession for TFC who extended their unbeaten streak to four games (two wins). With the victory over the defending MLS Cup champions, Toronto (5-7-9) moved up one spot to 10th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Orlando City who hold down the ninth and final playoff berth with 13 games remaining in the season.
Lionel Messi has enjoyed playing against TFC since he entered MLS in 2023, scoring three goals and tallying a pair of assists in his five previous contests. He added to his all-time tally vs. the Reds with a late consolation goal after he and his high-profile attacking teammates were largely kept in check for the majority of the match.
Coach Robin Fraser chalked up his team's upset win to "incredible diligence and awareness and effort."
"Obviously, a big part of trying to get a result was being able to stop them because they have so many good attacking players, and I thought defensively the group worked incredibly well, and had some really good moments with the ball, created some decent chances, and then really buried the ones that we got," Fraser opined.
"So, I thought it was a very complete performance that required a lot of guys to dig in and really work hard. I keep talking about the character of the group. You see it on a night like this. The conditions were quite miserable; quite hot, extremely humid, and guys just dug in. So, really proud of the effort."
John Molinaro
Niklas Dorsch out with facial fracture
It looks like Toronto FC will have to make do without Niklas Dorsch, but for how long remains anybody’s guess.
The MLS club confirmed last Friday that Dorsch suffered a facial fracture to his cheekbone in last week's 3-3 draw vs. Charlotte FC at BMO Field and that he underwent a successful surgery to repair the damage the next day.
But when speaking to reporters on Friday, coach Robin Fraser couldn’t offer a firm timeline as to how long the German midfielder will be sidelined or when he might return to action.
“Things went well [with the surgery]. I think he's feeling good. Our idea is just to build him up over the next week and see how quickly we can utilize him,” Fraser explained.
He later added: “He will be back training as soon as it is safe for him to do so. He'll probably have to wear a mask for a while, but he will be able to resume physical activity pretty quickly. … To miss him at all, obviously, is a blow to us, but the fact that we can kind of keep him ticking over physically, so that when he is ready to play, that physically he'll also be ready, I think that’s a good thing for us."
After scoring the equalizer in the 89th minute, Dorsch dropped to the ground in injury time after he was elbowed in the face by Charlotte’s Allan Saint-Maximin. The German was fighting to win the ball off of Charlotte substitute deep inside Toronto's half of the pitch. Dorsch was subbed out of the game after the incident, and no foul or caution was issued by referee Alexis Da Silva to Saint-Maximin on the play. The German was taken to a local hospital after the game to get a CT scan.
Fraser went on an epic post-match rant against the refs and VAR crew after the game.
Signed via a transfer from FC Heidenheim 1846 of Germany's second division late last month, Dorsch has hit the ground running in MLS by scoring two goals across three appearances for TFC, including in back-to-back matches. Now he has to bide his time to return to action for the Reds.
“His spirits are unreal. He is so excited to get back, and you know he's an experienced guy, and he knows injuries happen. But the good thing is that he's solely focused on getting back. So, he's in really good spirits and just ready to get going,” Fraser said.
John Molinaro
The MLS summer transfer window
Major League Soccer observes two transfer windows each year.
This season's primary transfer window ran from Jan. 26 to March 26. The secondary transfer window opened on July 13 and closes on Sept. 2.
During the summer transfer windows, MLS clubs can:
- Sign players who are out of contract.
- Buy and sell players via transfer both from teams within MLS and from abroad.
- Make trades with other MLS teams, either for players or assets (GAM, draft picks, etc.).
- Sign players on loan from clubs within MLS and from abroad.
Thus far this window, Hernandez pulled off acquisitions for Niklas Dorsch and Nelson Palacio, moved up Richard Chukwu from TFC 2 to the first team, and parted company with Henry Wingo and Cassius Mailula.
John Molinaro
TFC vs. New York City FC on Saturday
Toronto FC plays the first of three consecutive home games when it hosts New York City FC on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET/Apple TV).
New York (7-8-6) sits seventh in the Eastern Conference, three spots and three points above Toronto. NYCFC will enter Saturday's game on the back of four-game winless skid, including 1-1 draw away to the New England Revolution this past weekend.
With 35 goals, New York has the fifth best attack in the East, led by Argentina's Nicolás Fernández (13 goals). NYCFC also has the fourth best defence in the conference with just 30 goals against.
New York leads the all-time regular season series against Toronto with 11 wins and eight draws in 25 meetings. TFC have an all-time home record of 5-5-2 vs. NYCFC in the regular season – they've lost two in a row at BMO Field with their last win coming in 2023.
This week's match is the final meeting of the regular season between Toronto and New York. The teams played to a 1-1 draw at Yankee Stadium on July 31..
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Defender Reid Fisher has been a workhorse for TFC 2 this season, starting in 18 of the club's 22 regular season matches in MLS NEXT Pro while logging a team-high 1,625 minutes. He also made his senior team debut earlier in the season and looks poised to land an MLS contract for next season. TFC Republic recently chatted one-on-one with Fisher. Look for my feature story in the coming days. (NOTE: This story was supposed to run last week but was delayed due to scheduling issues. We apologize for the inconvenience)
Other stories that will be published this week include:
- A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.
- A piece on the four stories to watch for this week.
- The return of my weekly TFC random thoughts column.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. New York City FC.
- An audio interview with Matthew Mangam of New York Soccer Journal ahead of Saturday home game in New York.
- The latest edition of the reader mailbag.
- The weekly TFC 2 report.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" news stories throughout the week.
- A Q&A with Canadian women's team coach Casey Stoney
- And much more!
TFC Republic mailbag
TFC Republic will feature a regular reader mailbag column where I answer questions from subscribers about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general.
I'll answer the best questions submitted to me by TFC Republic readers, so feel free to drop me an email at jmo1897@gmail.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter.
TFC Republic subscribers can get up to a 25% discount on ticket prices for Toronto FC home games during the 2026 MLS regular season and the 2026 Canadian Championship. To receive the special promo code, email me at jmo1897@gmail.com
(Please don't share promo code with non-TFC Republic subscribers).
