Toronto FC hosts the Portland Timbers on Saturday in a MLS inter-conference fixture. Toronto FC is 13th in the Eastern Conference table at 7-5-12 on 26 points with a goal difference of -8. Toronto picked up a big victory when defeating Nashville 4-3 on the road last Saturday. Jonathan Osorio scored a brace for Toronto with goals in the 19th and 44th minutes, while Federico Bernardeschi scored in the 54th minute and Lorenzo Insigne scored the eventual winner in the 77th minute.
Toronto's victory over Nashville gave Toronto seven points over its last three matches in the MLS with two wins and one draw. The Reds had taken only eight points over the previous 14 matches in league play prior to that. Jesus Jimenez and Jonathan Osorio are the leading goal scorers for Toronto with eight each, while Osorio is the leader in assists with four, while Jimenez has three.
The Portland Timbers are seventh in the Western Conference table at 7-12-6 on 33 points with a goal difference of +4. Portland battled at home to a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas last Saturday. Marvin Loria scored for Dallas in second-half stoppage time (90'+6') to put the Timbers ahead 1-0 but Portland suffered an own-goal four minutes later and had to share spoils with the Toros.
Following its draw last Saturday, Portland has gone 10 consecutive matches without a loss, posting four wins and six draws. Over their club history, Portland has only two unbeaten runs that are longer than their current one. Jaroslaw Niezgoda is the leading goal scorer for Portland with nine, while four others have scored five goals each. Sebastian Blanco is the leader in assists with six.
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