Toronto FC defender Henry Wingo, left, and Orlando City forward Iván Angulo, right, fight for the ball during the second half of an MLS soccer match, Saturday, March 1, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Kevin Kolczynski

Toronto FC's 4-2 loss at Orlando on Saturday showed new coach Robin Fraser still has plenty of work to do.

But there was also hope for the future with Norwegian forward Ola Brynhildsen making his debut off the bench in the 65th minute.

"He is a true (No.) 9," Fraser said approvingly after the game at Inter & Co Stadium. "He'll stay high. He'll run behind (the defence). He'll run without the ball. He's got a real eye and a real nose for the goal. And I think the more we'll see him, the more productive he's going to be."

Fraser, a former two-time MLS Defender of the Year, has more immediate concerns.

After conceding two goals in two minutes in the first half, Toronto's defence was torn asunder several more times with Orlando attackers racing unchallenged down the centre of the field to find a backline at sixes and sevens.

"Disappointing," said Fraser, who thought his side paid for ill-discipline in trying to chase the game after going down 2-0.

"We go down a couple of goals and then we start trying to push, trying to right the wrongs immediately," he added. "That's really my biggest disappointment as I said to the players. Because they're shown that when they're very disciplined, they're very tough to beat."

Cesar Araujo, Alex Freeman, Martin Ojeda and Dagur Thorhallsson scored for Orlando (1-1-0), which converted all four shots on target. Sigurd Rosted and Deybi Flores replied with late goals for Toronto (0-1-1), both of which came after Brynhildsen entered the game.

Toronto acquired the 25-year-old Norwegian last month on loan from Denmark's FC Midtjylland through the end of the year with an option to make the move permanent. It did not use him in the season-opening 2-2 draw at D.C. United given he is lacking match fitness having not played a competitive game since December.

But after coming on Saturday, the five-foot-nine 154-pounder immediately gave Toronto a different look as he played off the shoulder of the Orlando centre backs. Federico Bernardeschi and Theo Corbeanu had struggled to make an impact up front for Toronto, which failed to put a shot on target on the first half.

Toronto threatened the first time it tried to feed Brynhildsen. Flores's pass was slightly off-target but the ball bounced off a defender to Bernardeschi whose low shot was saved by a diving Pedro Gallese in the 74th minute.

And in the 86th minute, with Orlando leading 4-1, Toronto pulled another goal back after Corbeanu tried to find Brynhildsen with a cross. A defender headed the ball away but it went straight to Flores, who hammered a low shot home from outside the penalty box.

Brynhildsen was also involved in Toronto's last attack of the night when Tyrese Spicer beat a defender and sent in a cross that found Corbeanu after deflecting off Brynhildsen in front of goal. Corbeanu fed Bernardeschi, who cut towards goal and fired a shot saved by Gallese.

Rosted is impressed by his fellow Norwegian.

"We've been seeing more and more of him this week in training," he said. "And then, of course we're going to see a lot a lot of him. I think this league suits him well. He's very fast. He's a very good finisher with his left foot, right foot and head as well. So he's going to score a lot of goals for Toronto FC."

Rosted's 72nd-minute goal, a header off a fine Bernardeschi corner, also was a good sign for Toronto.

While it was Rosted's first goal in 48 career MLS regular-season games, he is no stranger to scoring with 18 previous career goals.

"That's been a big part of my career before," he lamented. "Coming to Toronto and not scoring for two seasons has been hard."

The team has been working more on set pieces this year, he added.

And with fellow centre backs Kevin Long and Zane Monlouis, Rosted gives Toronto a real aerial threat on set pieces. Long and Rusted are both six foot two while Monlouis stands 6-1.

Brynhildsen had been playing for Norway's Molde FK, which sold him to Midtjylland in September 2023 and then got him back on loan last August. A former Norwegian youth international, he has four senior caps.

Toronto needs to boost an attack that produced just 40 goals in 34 league games last season with only New England (37), Nashville (38) and Austin (39) scoring fewer. Despite that, Toronto opted not to retain Prince Owusu. The German forward, who led the team with nine league goals last season, is now with CF Montreal.

TFC is also looking to shed high-priced Italian Lorenzo Insigne.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2025.

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