Toronto FC's playoff hopes dealt massive blow in latest loss

• Toronto FC 1 (Owusu 66’), New York Red Bulls 4 (Forsberg 27’; Tolkin 48’; Morgan 69’; Manoel 88’)
• TFC on brink of missing the playoffs for 4th straight year 
• Lorenzo Insigne missed game due to nagging calf injury 

TORONTO – Toronto FC’s playoff hopes aren’t officially dead. But it’s safe to say the undertaker is waiting on standby and the burial plot is ready to go.  

TFC’s post-season aspirations were dealt a major blow in Wednesday’s 4-1 home loss to the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field, a game that saw three goals scored from the penalty spot and Federico Bernardeschi sent off.  

Winless in five matches and with just one victory in seven contests, Toronto picked the absolute worst time to go into a tailspin, and it’s more than likely going to cost itself a playoff berth in the process.  

With this result, TFC (11-18-4, 37 points) dropped from eighth to ninth place in the Eastern Conference (tied with the Philadelphia Union and D.C United), three points behind CF Montreal. Toronto only has one game left in the season, Philadelphia, D.C. and Montreal all have two matches remaining on their schedules. The top nine teams in the conference qualify for the playoffs.