TORONTO — A pair of familiar faces could make their return Saturday when Toronto FC hosts Charlotte FC in MLS play.
Toronto fullback Richie Laryea, out since March 1 with a hamstring injury, is available to see some minutes. Toronto coach Robin Fraser says the 30-year-old Canadian international has impressed since joining the team for training.
"He hasn't even looked like he's been hurt," Fraser marvelled.
It's the second year in a row a hamstring injury has cut into Laryea's playing time — he was limited to 12 league appearances last season after undergoing surgery.
Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, on loan to Charlotte from CF Montreal, is bringing a crowd in his first trip back to BMO Field since Toronto traded him to Montreal in August 2024 for up to US$1.4 million in general allocation money.
The Canadian international fullback/winger, who joined the Toronto academy in February 2015, will have plenty of friends and family in attendance.
"I have 14 siblings," he explained. "I don't think all 14 siblings will come because obviously some of them have their own lives … But I'll have a lot of people there, for sure."
Marshall-Rutty, who turns 21 on June 16, is the seventh-oldest. "So right in the middle," he said with a smile.
Marshall-Rutty was 15 when he signed a homegrown player contract in January 2020, moving up from TFC 2 to become the youngest player in club history to sign for the first team. The native of Brampton, Ont., went on to make a combined 83 appearances across all competitions.
Fraser, then a TFC assistant coach, recalled Marshall-Rutty turning heads when he trained with the first team as a TFC 2 player.
"He was mature beyond his years as a very, very young player," Fraser said.
Marshall-Rutty found himself behind other players in the first team, however, and Toronto opted to trade him rather than lose him for nothing when his contract expired.
May has been a missed opportunity for Toronto (3-9-4), with just one win in five previous outings in the month at BMO Field (a 2-0 victory over D.C. United on May 10, its lone home win of the season).
And after conceding 86th- and 92nd-minute goals in a painful 2-1 midweek loss to visiting Philadelphia, Toronto looks to pick up some much-needed points Saturday before the FIFA international break.
Fraser had hoped his team could profit in the home-heavy month.
But TFC has collected just three of a possible 15 points at home so far in May. In all, Toronto has gone 2-4-0 in the month, with the other win a 6-1 romp at CF Montreal.
Charlotte (7-8-1) arrives occupying the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference in ninth spot, five places and nine points ahead of Toronto.
Charlotte is coming off a 4-2 midweek loss at the New York Red Bulls and a 3-2 home win over Columbus last Saturday that snapped a five-game league losing streak.
"I don't think teams have had to overwork to score goals against us. I think we've given them a very helping hand. There have been a lot of individual mistakes," coach Dean Smith said. "I've looked back on the goals through this month and the opposition hasn't had to do too much with a lot of the goals.
"So that's been a frustration and a disappointment, because shape-wise, system-wise, we've actually looked all right. But individual mistakes have been costing us. And you can't keep coming back from conceding two or three goals."
Charlotte is 2-6-0 in May across all competitions and has given up three or more goals in five of those contests.
"You can't coach individual mistakes," sad Smith. "And to be honest when you have nine games in one month you can't coach too much anyway because you're forever playing a game, travelling, getting back, washing your gear and travelling again."
Charlotte is led by a pair of star attackers in Israel's Liel Abada and the Ivory Coast's Wilfried Zaha. U.S. international forward Patrick Agyemang was named Player of Matchday 15 on Tuesday following his two-goal performance in the win over Columbus.
Charlotte defender Tim Ream has returned to training from a quad injury. French defender Souleyman Doumbia saw some minutes off the bench midweek after coming back from a hamstring injury.
Toronto remains without injured defenders Nicksoen Gomis and Kobe Franklin and forward Deandre Kerr. There is also a question mark over winger Federico Bernardeschi, who is dealing with a muscle strain after being suspended midweek for yellow card accumulation.
Midfielder Kosi Thompson is back from suspension.
Toronto holds a 3-2-1 edge over Charlotte in all-time regular-season meetings. Charlotte won 3-2 the last time they met in April 2024 (at Bank of America Stadium), but has yet to register a victory in Toronto (0-2-1).
Saturday's game is TFC's annual Indigenous Heritage Night.
With the FIFA international window looming, Toronto doesn't play again until June 13 at Los Angeles FC. Seven of TFC's 17 remaining games after the break are on the road.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
