Toronto FC boosts playoff hopes with important win vs. Portland

• Toronto FC 3 (Osorio 41’; Insigne 78’; Bernardeschi 85’), Portland Timbers 1 (Van Rankin 73’)
• Osorio nets team-high 9th goal of MLS campaign
• Laryea collects 3rd assist since his return to the Reds

TORONTO – Lorenzo Insigne is certainly giving Toronto FC its money’s worth so far in Major League Soccer.

Insigne put in a man-of-the match effort and scored the decisive goal in a 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers on Saturday night before an announced crowd of 28, 598 at BMO Field.

Jonathan Osorio and Federico Bernardeschi also scored for Toronto (8-12-5), who extended its unbeaten streak to four games in MLS, tied for its longest run of the year without a loss. More importantly, the Reds kept their post-season hopes alive by moving up one spot to 12th place in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining, although they remain four points below the playoff line.

“At the end of the year you want to be at your best… You get a sense that guys feel good about what’s going on, they feel the football is getting better. It’s a good feeling when you come in and not only to win but to feel like little things are improving. To feel like the ball is moving faster, to feel like [we’re] defending as a unit better. They can see some of those things and that makes a big difference,” coach Bob Bradley told reporters after the game.