# Toronto FC end difficult season with goal fest: Mihailovic powers TFC to 4-2 win *[Waking the Red](https://wakingthered.com/2025/10/19/21322/toronto-fc-end-difficult-season-with-goal-fest-mihailovic-powers-tfc-to-4-2-win/)* • Oct. 19, 2025 --- TORONTO — Toronto FC head coach Robin Fraser entered the press room beaming. "Let's see those smiles," he implored as he approached the mic stand. Finally, TFC had won a game. And finally, one of the worst years in club history had come to an end. Toronto FC snapped an 11-game winless run with a season-ending 4-2 victory over playoff-bound Orlando City at BMO Field on Saturday. It was TFC's first win since July 16 and only its third positive result at home this year. The three points came against motivated opposition. With the loss and the Columbus Crew's win over the New York Red Bulls, Orlando moved down to ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning it will have to navigate a one-off play-in to reach the first round of the playoffs. Djordje Mihailovic, who joined Toronto in a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Rapids in August, scored twice, while captain Jonathan Osorio and 22-year-old Deandre Kerr added tallies. Orlando's David Brekalo and Duncan McGuire scored the consolation markers. Though Toronto will watch the postseason from home for a fifth consecutive year, the win helps soothe the pain of a tumultuous year that upended the roster. With a dizzying 29 player transactions taking place and star signings Federico Bernardeschi and Lorenzo Insigne leaving the club midseason, TFC endured an odyssey of epic proportions over the last nine months. But Fraser witnessed a culture change over the final stretch of the campaign — even if his team drew eight of its last 12 matches. "We've been eliminated now for, I don't know, four or five weeks, and they still show up and play hard every single day. And to be honest, that's the thing that I've really enjoyed about this team, is that they're so accountable to each other," Fraser told reporters, including Waking The Red, after the match. "They don't seem to want to let each other down, and they take great pride in working for each other. So, to end the season this way — it's been such a challenging season in so many different ways — and to end the season this way, to see them get the reward of their hard work, I'm elated." Toronto's veterans came to play, taking ownership of the game — and perhaps even of a lousy season — with a couple of statement plays early on. Canadian international Richie Laryea turned his marker before galloping up the field and setting into motion a sequence that resulted in Osorio's 69th goal for the club. The move went quickly from left to right, with midfielder Jose Cifuentes teeing up Osorio's shot from outside the area. Laryea started at left-back but took every opportunity to join the attack and nearly scored Toronto's second goal when he latched onto Kosi Thompson's defense-splitting pass and set off on a run inside the area. But his shot let him down, whizzing wide of the near post. Orlando finally woke up after 20 minutes of hazy soccer. And what followed was a combination of timely goalkeeping, body-on-the-line defending, and charitable refereeing. Veteran shot-stopper Sean Johnson may have offered the club more encouragement to pick up its option to extend his contract with four saves, including two in quick succession. His defenders also pitched in, blocking nine shots in the first half alone and 12 overall. Laryea, Sigurd Rosted, and Thompson each denied Orlando's shooters, and Johnson was there to push away any attempt that made it through the sea of bodies. "For me, I hope that this is a culture that we have built: That it's a never say die, do anything, throw your body on the line," Fraser said. There was a reprieve, and TFC only needed a couple of minutes to double its lead. Mihailovic curled in a free-kick in the 34th minute, wheeling away after Orlando ‘keeper Pedro Gallese palmed the effort inside his own netting. Mihailovic popped up again after the interval, getting the best of Gallese with a rather tame sliding shot that dribbled past the netminder. While Toronto's No. 10 nearly scuffed the finish with virtually no one around him, it had just enough power to cross the line. Toronto had built a 3-0 lead by that point. To Mihailovic, it felt like a long time coming. "I think there's a lot of beauty in drawing eight in a row. It kind of … shows the feeling I had when I first joined, the type of team this is," the attacking midfielder told reporters. "Yes, the attack needed work. But I'm glad it showed tonight. All the goals come, but over the course of the 10 games that I've been here, it's shown that we're a very difficult team to play against." The crowd in Toronto may have gotten away with the lead. The flares came out and draped half of the field in red smoke, and fireworks went off in the parking lot below the southern stand. So Orlando took it upon itself to flatten the mood. With a swift blow of a cross into the area, Brekalo pounced to reduce the arrears to 3-1. The goal denied Toronto the chance to end the season with a seventh clean sheet. But it didn't make a material difference to the end result. Kerr, one of Toronto's many roster bets, completed an easy tap-in from Derrick Etienne Jr.'s sliding pass to complete the rout. Orlando's late goal only changed the arithmetic. "It's a great last memory for our fans to have when they leave tonight," Fraser added, "and increases the expectations for when we come back together next year, which is exactly the way it should be." --- [[Featured Work|← Back to Featured Work]] | [[Index|Home]]