CHESTER, Pa. – Sebastien Le Toux scored in the 43rd minute to lead Philadelphia to a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC on Saturday, good enough to clinch the Union’s first playoff berth.
Le Toux scored his team-best 11th goal after receiving a crisp open pass from Justin Mapp, and the Union extended their unbeaten streak to eight games (3-0-5).
Ryan Johnson scored for Toronto FC (6-13-14) in the 57th minute. Toronto FC dropped to 1-9-7 on the road.
“I just made my near post run and got a little help from the defender.” said Johnson. “But when you make the inner post run good things happen.”
The Union took a 1-0 lead right before halftime when a sloppy Toronto clearance gave the ball to Philly midfielder Justin Mapp. Mapp then fed an open Le Toux, who buried a shot into the bottom left corner of the net, past a diving Milos Kocic.
“First 10 minutes we were looking okay, we had some difficulties with them,” said TFC coach Aron Winter. “The first goal was a mistake from us that we were not sharp at that moment. But then in the second half we got the opportunity to make it to 1.”
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It was the 10th goal in the last 11 games for Le Toux, who leads Philly with 11 goals and nine assists.
In the 29th minute, a curling free kick from Freddy Adu was knocked away by Kocic, who finished with six big saves for Toronto.
Toronto FC was paced offensively by striker Joao Plata, who made a couple of nice runs in the first half, but didn’t get on the scoreboard until early in the second half when Johnson finished off a cross from teammate Nick Soolsma with a quick first touch that scooted by Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon.
“Nick Soolsma’s been playing well lately,” said Johnson. “He’s doing a good job been beating his guy down the line all day today.”
It was the third goal of the season for Johnson, who was traded from San Jose to Toronto in July.
Mondragon, making his first start since Sept. 3 after missing seven straight games with a broken finger, finished with three saves for Philly.
With the game tied at 1-1, the Union pushed hard for the win, even though a tie would have been enough to clinch a playoff berth.
Just a minute after Toronto’s goal, Williams had a close-range shot saved by Kocic after being sprung free by Le Toux.
Shortly after that, Kocic made another big stop when substitute Jack McInerney made a cutback move followed by a quick strike on net.
And then in the 68th minute, Kocic was at it again, stopping Paunovic, who made a delicate first touch on a lobbing pass from Michael Farfan and blasted it right at the Toronto ’keeper.
A few more chances came and went for the Union (11-7-15), who wrapped up their home schedule with a 7-1-9 record at PPL Park.
Toronto next takes on FC Dallas in a CONCACAF Champions League game Tuesday, before wrapping up their regular season slate against New England next Saturday.
“It’s a very important game for both clubs,” said TFC midfielder Eric Avila. “I played with Dallas and now I’m here and I think it’s going to be a great battle. Both teams they want to win.”
– with files from The Associated Press.
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