CHESTER, Pa. — It took six years and more than 150 games but Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio finally got his first career MLS brace.
He wanted more.
“I wanted a hat trick badly,” Osorio said with a smile after TFC’s 2-0 road win over the Philadelphia Union on Friday. “It didn’t come. But it’s a nice little milestone. It’s good and hopefully one day the hat trick comes.”
Personal milestones aside, Osorio was mostly happy with Toronto earning three points on the road after blowing a three-goal lead in Columbus last week and dropping a decision vs. FC Dallas before that.
Now, with a home game looming Wednesday vs. D.C. United (8 pm ET | Full TV & Streaming Info), he hopes the team can gain some momentum heading into the World Cup break and start looking more like the defending champs and less like a team near the bottom of the Eastern Conference table.
“I thought we came in with a good mentality to be aggressive and I think we played a smart game today,” Osorio said. “We played for the three points. It’s a good step in the right direction to start playing the football we really want to play.”
To keep moving in the right direction, TFC know they’ll likely need to count on Osorio, who’s been a pivotal player for the Reds all year, especially as injuries have piled up throughout the roster.
The Toronto stalwart had four goals in eight games in Concacaf Champions League play, to win the tournament Golden Boot and lead the club to the final. And he now has four goals on the MLS season — one shy of a career-high he set as a rookie in 2013.
“He’s been on fire,” goalkeeper Alex Bono told MLSsoccer.com. “He’s been on fire this entire season. He’s been a special player for us this year and a real sparkplug. He had a really good performance and he keeps tying them together. I’m really, really happy for him.”
Against the Union, Osorio found space between defenders in the 19th minute and, after Victor Vasquez threaded the needle, made a great first touch to find himself alone on Union goalkeeper Andre Blake. He buried the shot to give TFC a lead they would not relinquish, and calmly beat Blake again from point-blank range in the 79th minute after Sebastian Giovinco picked off a Union throw-in and played him through.
“Two good goals,” TFC head coach Greg Vanney said. “I think everybody put in a shift and that’s what you gotta do sometimes on the road. He was in the right place a couple of times and we finished our chances. There were a few other chances we let go but three points are three points.”
That was a sentiment Osorio shared, especially after they learned the hard lesson of giving away a win on the road last week.
“The most important thing was the three points,” he said. “To add a clean sheet away from home is huge for us. We’ve got to get back to being hard to play against and not conceding so easily.
“This was a step in the right direction, and now we just need to keep going.”
