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The Reds were barking up the wrong tree if they felt they were going to have an easy go of it against the Portland Timbers on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.

The road-weary Timbers, who have yet to play at home this season, had only won once in seven games heading into Saturday’s match, but were the better side against Toronto FC. Overall, it was probably TFC’s worst outing of the MLS campaign so far.

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“In simple terms, we were disconnected most of the day in between things. And they were far better connected than we were,” TFC coach Greg Vanney said. “They were more cohesive as a group, both on the defending side and on the attacking side than we were. Because of that, they were able to control the game through much of it.”

Playing in front of 24,832 supporters who certainly expected a better outing from a home side that had only lost once in its first six games, TFC finally came to life with consistency near the end of the match and pressed hard for the equalizer in the final few minutes, but couldn’t convert on any of their chances as the Timbers escaped with a 2-1 victory.