Union takeaways: A bad loss at Toronto could have a long-lasting impact

Here are our day-after takeaways on the Union’s 3-1 loss at Toronto FC on Wednesday.

Lorenzo Insigne. Before kickoff, the same person was at the heart of why it seemed fair to think the Union would win at BMO Field for the first time since 2019 — and whatever hopes Toronto had of an upset.

Insigne, a former star of Napoli and Italy’s national team, scored just his fifth goal of the year in 18 games for the Reds, to go with three assists. He has missed seven games this year because of injuries and has been disgruntled seemingly just as often.

The Athletic reported that Insigne was part of a player revolt in late May against former manager Bob Bradley and that he walked out of a practice last week over a disagreement with interim boss Terry Dunfield.

All the while, Insigne earned the league’s third-highest salary, $7.5 million, trailing only Miami’s Lionel Messi and Chicago’s Xherdan Shaqiri. Last year, Insigne was due $14 million, according to the MLS Players Association, by far the highest salary in league history until Messi’s arrival.

» READ MORE: Union lose badly at last-place Toronto FC, 3-1

There has been no equivalent measure of leadership, or anything close. But with incoming new Reds manager John Herdman watching Wednesday’s game from a suite, Insigne showed what he could be: 91 touches, the opening goal, and 55-of-68 passing. He even did his part defensively, with two interceptions, nine recoveries, and eight duels won out of 11 contested.

It’s possible, perhaps even likely, that could be will end up as could have been. Herdman is widely expected to blow up Toronto’s roster this winter, as a team with just 19 wins over the last three years deserves.

Wednesday’s result snapped a 13-game winless streak across all competitions (three ties and 10 losses). The previous win, on May 28, was the team’s only one since the end of April.

That is not a team the Union should be losing to, but they did. Add to that Leon Flach’s injury, Jesús Bueno’s ejection, and José Andrés Martínez’s yellow-card suspension, and this game could have a cascading impact on the rest of the season.

2: The Union’s shots on target, out of 17 total shots taken. Any other stat you can look at is the other definition of offensive.

» READ MORE: Tai Baribo is still adjusting to his new life with the Union

0: The number of tackles by Jakob Glesnes, who was at some form of fault on all three of Toronto’s goals. The statistical analysis formula used by the popular live scores site FotMob for player ratings gave him a 4.9 out of 10. That’s so bad that it showed up in red on his stat line. Scores from 5-7 are marked orange, and anything higher is in green.

“When you go on the road, regardless of teams’ records, you have to be clinical, you have to be professional, you have to be disciplined. And we were none of those things tonight.”

— Union manager Jim Curtin’s verdict on the loss.

“José obviously has to be smarter than to run 85 yards to get involved in that and pick up an incredibly stupid yellow card, and now he misses a Red Bull game. So not smart on his part.”

— Curtin on Martínez’s yellow card.

» READ MORE: Jack McGlynn and Leon Flach played key roles in the win at D.C. United

FC Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1. While the rest of MLS was obsessing about Messi as usual, the best team in the East went down south and clinched the year’s first playoff berth.

It happened in dramatic fashion, too. Atlanta held the lead from Edwin Mosquera’s goal in the 10th minute until Luciano Acosta’s equalizer in the 75th. Brandon Vazquez, a former Atlanta prospect, struck the winner in the 80th.

Vazquez didn’t make the U.S. men’s national team roster for the September friendlies that was announced earlier Wednesday. He might not be needed, with Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi on the squad. Nor would we learn too much were he to score against Uzbekistan and Oman, which likely will be little more than sparring partners.

But there’s nothing wrong with keeping your name in the news and keeping the heat on the guys above you on the depth chart. If Vazquez keeps doing that, perhaps he’ll force his way back on to the team later this year.

» READ MORE: Brenden Aaronson called up, Mark McKenzie returns to the USMNT for September friendlies

The Union return home for a game on traditional TV on Sunday night against the rival New York Red Bulls. The broadcast on FS1 and Fox Deportes will start at 7:30 p.m., and while they’ll tell you that’s when the kickoff is, it’s actually at 7:55 p.m. The game also will be free to watch online via Apple TV.