Toronto FC was officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 4-1 loss to DC United in Washington on Saturday night.
Toronto (5-15-6) entered the game trailing the eighth-place Chicago Fire by 11 points for the final playoff spot and needed a win again first-place DC United to keep their slim hopes alive.
The game got off to a great start for the expansion franchise. Midfielder Carl Robinson drilled a free kick from outside the top of the penalty box past goaltender Troy Perkins for an unassisted goal in the 14th minute to stake Toronto to an early 1-0 lead.
That lead held up until shortly after halftime as DC United (16-6-5) gave a glimpse of why they entered the game unbeaten in their past ten contests. Toronto, on the other hand, might have shown why they entered the game winless in their last 11.
Defender Marc Burch scored his first goal of the season in the 52nd minute to pull DC United even. His long strike from outside the left corner of the box eluded Toronto goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos to level the score at 1-1.
Just five minutes later, Brazilian midfielder Fred tallied his seventh goal of the season off a backpedal feed from Christian Gomez to put DC United up 2-1. A sprawling Stamatopoulos managed to get a piece of blistering shot from outside the 18-yard box but couldn't keep it out of the Toronto net.
Jamie Moreno continued the offensive outburst, scoring his seventh goal season and the 112th of his career on a long strike in the 66th minute to build the DC lead to 3-1. Moreno, who was a halftime substitution, beat Stamatopoulos to his right from point-blank range.
Emilio scores 20thStriker Luciano Emilio put an exclamation point on the victory, volleying a rebound off the crossbar into the Toronto net for his league-leading 20th goal of the season in the 70th minute.
With 20 goals on the season, Emilio has scored the same number of goals as Toronto FC has as a team. He also becomes the first MLS player to score at least 20 goals in a season since Carlos Ruiz of the Los Angeles Galaxy scored 24 and the New England Revolution's Taylor Twellman netted 23 in 2002.
"Obviously, I'm happy, but the best part of scoring is helping the team out," said Emilio. "Records are made to be broken, and if I'm at 20 (goals) now, hopefully I can score a few more in the next few games and set another record for someone else to break."
When the smoke had cleared, DC United had scored an impressive four goals in roughly 18 minutes on their way to a blowout.
"It's tough to say it after giving up four goals, but I thought our defence was sound," said Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston. "With a team like DC, with that kind of depth, you know, bringing Moreno and Olsen off the bench, it's tough. You make a few mistakes and you give up goals."
DC United also swept the three-game season series against Toronto with the win.
Toronto's next game is Oct. 4 at home against the New York Red Bulls, followed by an away game on Oct. 7 against the Colorado Rapids.
The club's final two games of the season are Oct. 13 in Los Angeles against the Galaxy, and at home Oct. 20 against the New England Revolution.
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