By Canadian Press

Priso’s late goal lifts Toronto FC over Atlanta 2-1

Jun 25, 2022 | 7:56 PM

TORONTO — Jonathan Osorio opened the scoring early and Ralph Priso added the eventual winner as Toronto FC defeated Atlanta United 2-1 on Saturday.

Osorio scored in the eighth minute after a Jayden Nelson pass led him into the box, where he beat his defender and put it past Atlanta goalkeeper Rocco Rios-Novo.

Luiz De Araujo put an end to Atlanta’s offensive woes in the 57th minute as he ran down the right side of the field, past his defender and beat Toronto’s Quentin Westberg to tie the game at 1-1.

Priso was able to find the back of the net in the 78th minute to break the Major League Soccer stalemate.

Toronto (5-8-3) improved to 5-3-0 at BMO Field, where it has enjoyed the vast majority of its success this season. Toronto FC will next host the Columbus Crew on Wednesday as the team continues its five-game homestand.

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Entering the match, Toronto had won just one of its last eight MLS games, with the lone victory coming against the Chicago Fire at home on May 28. Coming off a 4-0 victory over CF Montreal in the Canadian Championship semifinals on Wednesday, Toronto built on what little momentum it’s been able to garner this season.

Despite the three goals between both sides, the match did not lack missed scoring opportunities.

Atlanta went through much of the match having difficulty putting the ball on goal and connecting with one another on passing attempts off corner and free kicks.

Toronto, on the other hand, had its fair share of missed chances near and on goal.

In the 12th minute, Nelson advanced the ball up field with a man advantage, eventually finding Osorio going down the left side but the ball went out of bounds as he attempted to beat his defender by the goal line boundary. He again missed two minutes later over the top of the net.

Forward Jesus Jimenez, one of the top scorers in the MLS, also missed on a few opportunities of his own, with a number of those coming in the box.

Italian international Lorenzo Insigne was in attendance for the game as the crowd gave him a loud round of applause and cheer when shown on the big screen. The 31-year-old who signed with Toronto FC earlier in the year, was formally introduced to the fans on Friday. He is expected to make his debut on July 9.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2022

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press