Theo Corbeanu said that Toronto FC had a point to prove after their recent run of form, and believed his team delivered against San Diego FC last time out.
Corbeanu scored the only goal from the penalty spot to seal a 1-0 win over the Western Conference leaders in what was just their fifth win in the MLS this season.
It saw Robin Fraser’s side bounce back from a 3-1 defeat to New York City FC, with results of late picking up having taken eight points from their last five league fixtures.
“We felt like we had a point to prove today,” said goalscorer Corbeanu shortly after the win at Snapdragon Stadium.
It was just Corbeanu’s fourth goal of the season, and his first since a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on June 26, with Fraser impressed by his recent showings.
“We’re seeing a lot of maturity in Theo, in his decision making, and in his belief that he is going to be dangerous,” said Fraser. “He just feels very confident right now.”
But with a trip to GEODIS Park to take on Eastern Conference high-flyers Nashville SC up next, Fraser urged his players to try and build momentum moving forward.
“We asked them to do some unusual things and to stay disciplined. It was a really good game from the guys. The level of engagement has to carry on now.”
Successful road trip #SDvTOR #TFCLive pic.twitter.com/lw7kimbbGH
— Toronto FC (@TorontoFC) July 17, 2025
Nashville, meanwhile, responded to their defeat to Inter Miami last time out with a 3-0 victory over the Columbus Crew, bridging the gap between the two sides in the standings.
Sean Zawadzki’s own-goal opened the scoring before strikes in either half by in-form duo Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge sealed an important three points for the Coyotes.
Nashville’s loss to Miami brought their club-record 12-game unbeaten run to an end, though head coach B.J. Callaghan is keen to get a similar stretch up and running.
“Miami is obviously a really good team, but we don’t believe that they got our best punch,” said Callaghan.
“We made a commitment to each other to go through our process, review, try to figure out what we need to improve.
“But one of those was that no matter what happens tonight, they’re going to get our best punch. They’re going to get our best punch from the whole team, and we did that.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nashville – Sam Surridge
After Lionel Messi failed to score against FC Cincinnati, Surridge now leads the scoring charts in the MLS with 17 after his goal against Columbus, but he has formed a great understanding with Mukhtar.
Indeed, the duo posted their 10th game this season in which they recorded a goal involvement last time out. No other MLS pairing has more than eight such games in the 2025 regular season.
Toronto – Jonathan Osorio
Osorio has scored four regular-season goals in his seven matches against Nashville, including a goal in the first meeting this season between the two clubs.
The only team he has more MLS goals against is the Chicago Fire with six (in 22 matches).
MATCH PREDICTION: NASHVILLE WIN
Nashville are unbeaten in their last five games against Toronto (W3 D2) with three straight wins in the matchup. The only team the Coyotes have recorded a longer winning streak against in regular-season play is the Chicago Fire (currently four games).
Callaghan’s team have also scored the fourth-most home goals (25) in MLS this regular season. Seventeen of those have come in the last seven home matches (2.4 per game), dating back to the end of April, after scoring eight goals in their first five home contests (1.6).
Toronto, meanwhile, picked up their fifth win of the season against San Diego and have earned eight points (W2 D2 L1) in their last five matches. They managed just 10 points (W3 D1) in their previous 10 matches.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nashville – 65.2%
Draw – 18.7%
Toronto – 16%