Jozy Altidore (right) congratulates Justin Morrow on his second goal (Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports)
TORONTO — The Red Bulls’ misery continued Saturday night.
Defender Justin Morrow converted a hat-trick to lift Toronto FC to a 4-2 victory over the Red Bulls as the Canadian side clinched the Supporters Shield title at BMO Field.
New York, which entered the match in sixth place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, extended its winless streak to eight games (0-3-5) in all competitions. The Red Bulls (12-12-7, 43) haven’t won in more than a month while Toronto (65) improved to 19-5-8 in what has been a dream season.
The Red Bulls’ has been a nightmare since mid-August.
Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch was confounded with another disappointing finish.
“Yeah man, we fight so hard, we play so hard and we just can’t seem to reward ourselves and we can’t seem to prevent ourselves from making mistakes,” he said.
“Unfortunately in our sport, right, you can play well, dictate much of the game, be the better team for much of the match and then not make plays on both ends and then that’s ultimately what it comes down to.
“That’s what we are, and I’ll tell you it’s a hard thing to understand how to clean up, but I’m tasked with that. I’ve got to help this group help themselves because there’s a lot of good things happening but a lot of things, small little errors that cost us in big ways.”
The hosts grabbed a 2-1 halftime edge. although depending on your vantage point, it could have been 4-1 or a 1-1 deadlock.
All of the first half goals were scored within a seven-minute span.
Toronto struck first in the 32nd minute as Justin Morrow slotted home a rebound off a Luis Robles save. The Red Bulls felt the call should not have stood because the ball touched the hand of Tosaint Ricketts in the penalty area.
Referee Allen Chapman went to the Video Assistant Referee, which upheld the goal.
Only five minutes later, Morrow connected for his second of the match and career-high seventh of the season as he grabbed a Michael Bradley feed and tallied from eight yards out for a two-goal margin.
Forward Gonzalo Veron, starting in place of the resting Bradley Wright-Phillips, pulled one back for the visiting side, slipping in a Tyler Adams feed from the right side from six yards past keeper Alexander Bono to slice the margin in half.
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Toronto twice drilled shots off the left post — Ricketts in the 42nd minute and Bradley in the 45th.
The Red Bulls equalized in the 77th minute as Daniel Royer put in a penalty kick after Drew Moor took down Veron in the area.
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Victor Vasquez, however, snapped the tie with a penalty kick of his own in the 80th minute after it was ruled that Aaron Long took down former Red Bulls striker in the box.
Barely into second-half stoppage time, Altidore set up the insurance goal as Morrow slid in his right-wing feed at the far post for his eighth goal.
“It was a great night,” Morrow said. “It is hard to put into words. But it’s a great feeling.”