(Photo credit: Thomas Salus-Imagn Images)

New York City FC's first two games since the World Cup break gave coach Pascal Jansen something to enjoy while hoping for more improvement.

NYCFC attempt to win three straight for the second time this season Friday night when they host struggling Toronto FC in their final contest before taking another break for three Leagues Cup games.

NYCFC (7-6-4, 25 points) begin the weekend fifth in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Chicago and four behind third-place New England. NYCFC are 4-1-1 in their past six MLS matches and seek three straight wins for the first time since scoring 10 goals from March 1-14.

New York City scored three goals for the fifth time in MLS play when they earned a 3-1 victory over Chicago on Saturday. Agustin Ojeda scored eight minutes after NYCFC allowed the tying goal while Malachi Jones netted his first goal since returning from a tibia injury in April that kept him out for nearly two years.

'I'm very happy with a lot of things I've seen so far, but also it tells the story of us becoming even better than we are at the moment because there's still a lot of work to be done,' Jansen said this week. 'Obviously the offensive part of the game has shown some good progress, but there's also quite a few areas where need to improve ourselves. That is something that we have to realize always.'

Toronto (3-7-7, 16 points) is 0-5-6 during an 11-game winless skid since beating Colorado on April 4. Toronto has scored one goal or fewer in eight of those games, including the past five.

The skid continued with Saturday's 2-1 loss at D.C. United. Theo Corbeanu tied the match in the 76th minute but Toronto allowed the go-ahead goal 10 minutes into stoppage time on a penalty kick following a foul that infuriated coach Robin Fraser.

'I think, all in all this season, there's been positive moments,' Corbeanu said. 'There's been negative moments. I think everybody knows that. And all I can say is that with the group that we have, with the mentality that lies in this group, our fate can change.'

--Field Level Media