Dániel Sallói's First Toronto FC Goal Gives Reds First-Ever Win at TQL Stadium, 1-0 Over FC Cincinnati

Richie Laryea found the gap, Dániel Sallói found the corner, and a sold-out TQL Stadium went quiet. Eighty-five minutes into a grinding Sunday night, Toronto FC finally had something to celebrate in Cincinnati.

Sallói's right-footed finish gave Toronto a 1-0 win over FC Cincinnati, the Reds' first victory of 2026 and, according to the club, their first-ever win at TQL Stadium. It was also Toronto's first-ever goal in the building, as both clubs pointed out, and it came in front of a sellout crowd of 25,513.

A Reworked Toronto Holds Its Ground

Robin Fraser shuffled the deck after back-to-back road losses, making four changes from the side that lost at Vancouver, per the club. Benjamín Kuscevic made his club debut, and Emilio Aristizábal made his first start for Toronto. Cincinnati, meanwhile, handed Tom Barlow his first MLS start in orange and blue.

Toronto had the sharper first half. Sallói had an early shot blocked, and in the 29th minute Aristizábal took a pass from Djordje Mihailovic and forced Roman Celentano into a save at the bottom right corner. Mihailovic fired just wide from distance in the same minute. Cincinnati's best look came in the 34th, when Barlow met an Ender Echenique cross with a header from the left side of the six-yard box and Luka Gavran pushed it away at the top right corner. A minute later, Nick Hagglund steered a shot just wide off a corner.

The half closed with a Toronto flurry. Celentano saved from Aristizábal again in the second minute of stoppage time, Walker Zimmerman headed wide off the ensuing corner, and Laryea forced one more stop from the center of the box two minutes later.

Cincinnati Pushes, Gavran Answers

Cincinnati had its own looks after the break. Gerardo Valenzuela and Obinna Nwobodo both missed the target in the 58th minute, and Pat Noonan sent on Ayoub Jabbari and Samuel Gidi five minutes later. In the 67th, Pavel Bucha let fly from outside the box, and Gavran got a hand to it at the top right corner, a save Toronto called outstanding.

Toronto had to reshuffle in the 73rd, with Zimmerman forced off with an injury and replaced by Lazar Stefanovic. Deandre Kerr came on at the same time for what the club said was his first appearance of the campaign. Cincinnati brought on Evander a minute later, and the club said it was his first game action since he was hurt early in the season opener.

Kerr was a live wire off the bench. He headed a José Cifuentes cross wide in the 80th minute, then had a shot from outside the box saved by Celentano in the 84th. From the corner that followed, he headed another chance wide.

The Turning Point: Laryea's Pass

In that same minute, Toronto struck. Laryea slipped a pass through, Toronto's account says, and Sallói ran onto it and finished from the left side of the box with his right foot, low into the bottom right corner. 1-0 in the 85th minute.

Cincinnati had seven minutes of added time to answer and could not. Evander's free kick in the third minute of stoppage time sailed just over, and Gidi and Kyle Smith had shots from the center of the box blocked as Toronto defended its lead.

Star Watch

Sallói scored on his only shot on target, and Toronto said it was his 60th MLS career goal and his first for the club since he joined on Feb. 20. MLS noted it was his first MLS goal for a team other than Sporting Kansas City.

Laryea had the assist, his first of the season per the club, and also forced a save of his own. Gavran made two saves for the shutout, which Toronto said was his fifth clean sheet for the Reds and the club's first of 2026. Kerr took three shots off the bench. At the other end, Celentano made four saves to keep Cincinnati in it.

"When you work this hard, you want to reward yourself," Fraser said. "Even the way they dug in at the very end is so important, because it's about establishing what our identity is going to be and what our character is going to be like as a group."

Sallói was already thinking about Josh Sargent, the new signing who did not make the trip. "We're very excited to have him. He's an amazing player, and just the ambition of this club to get a player like him, I can't wait to play alongside him," he said.

Noonan did not sugarcoat the other side. "The team's not good enough right now, and that's on me," he said, adding: "If you watched the game tonight, and if you watched the game in Minnesota, our ability to attack the goal is pretty far off."

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Cincinnati 57.1 percent, Toronto 42.9 percent.
• Shots on target: Toronto 5 of 11; Cincinnati 2 of 14.
• Saves: Celentano 4, Gavran 2.
• Tackles: Toronto won 16 of 24; Cincinnati won 6 of 9.
• Corners: 8 apiece.

What It Means

Toronto improves to 1-0-2 with 3 points after opening with losses at FC Dallas and Vancouver, and MLS noted this wrapped a three-game season-opening road trip. The Reds now head home for their next nine matches, starting with the home opener against Red Bull New York on Saturday. MLS said Sargent, acquired for a reported club-record fee of $22 million, could be in line to debut.

Cincinnati drops to 1-0-2 with 3 points after a 2-0 home win over Atlanta United and a 1-0 loss at Minnesota United. The club said this was a second straight 1-0 defeat and its first home loss of the year, and that the scoreless run has now reached 180 minutes. The club added that the defeat, its first to Toronto since Sept. 29, 2021, snapped an eight-match unbeaten run. Next up is the first leg of a Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 tie against Tigres UANL at TQL Stadium on Thursday.

Closing Take

Every long road trip needs a souvenir, and Toronto finally grabbed one on the way out the door. It was not a masterpiece, but Sallói's finish, Gavran's hands and a back line that dug in late were enough to break a TQL Stadium hex the Reds had never cracked. Cincinnati, meanwhile, is learning that a full building cannot score goals for you.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by mlssoccer.com and FC Cincinnati (fccincinnati.com); club notes from Toronto FC (torontofc.ca) and FC Cincinnati.