OTTAWA -- Jonathan Osorio scored in the fifth minute as Toronto FC downed the Ottawa Fury 1-0 in the opening leg of their Canadian Championship semifinal on Wednesday.

Toronto claimed an important road goal in the opening match, and will host the second leg at BMO Field July 25.

Toronto FC left several of their starters at home on Wednesday, including midfielders Michael Bradley and Victor Vasquez, defender Gregory van der Wiel and Italian forward Sebastien Giovinco. This despite the fact they have just four wins in 19 MLS games this season.

None of that really mattered though as Osorio opened the scoring to give TFC an early lead.

Osario took a pass from Ryan Telfer and deposited the ball just past the outstretched fingers of Fury 'keeper Maxime Crepeau just inside the left post.

That was the only shot attempt by Toronto FC in the first half. The Fury had two, but one was wide of the target and the other was blocked.

Kevin Oliveira had two shots on goal early in the second half for the Fury but both were handled by Clint Irwin in the Toronto goal. He was making just his fifth start of the season.

The game was delayed for a couple of minutes late in the second half as a couple of flares and smokes bombs lit a couple of fires in the stands, with one making its way on to the pitch, before quickly being extinguished by stadium security.

Steevan Dos Santos had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 85th minute as he got his head on a cross from Onua Obasi but Irwin made the save right on the goal line.

The Fury continued to press over the dying minutes, including four minutes of extra time, but were unable to break through.

The Reds won the Voyageur Cup in 2017, defeating the Fury in the semifinals. Following a 2-1 road loss in the first leg, Toronto FC were 4-0 winners on their home pitch in the second leg. They then defeated the Montreal Impact 3-2 on aggregate.

It was their second straight Canadian Championship, giving them a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League earlier this year. They advanced to the final of that event but fell to Mexico's C.D. Guadalajara 4-2 in a penalty shootout after the two legs were tied 3-3 on aggregate.