• Toronto FC 1 (Janson 59’), San Jose Earthquakes 1 (Wondolowski 77’)
• TFC settles for a draw against last-place team in MLS
• Reds now nine points out of a playoff spot in the East
Toronto FC continues to be its own worst enemy.
Badly needing a victory on Saturday to keep pace with the teams ahead of them in the standings, the Reds came up short against the last-place side in MLS, as they were held to a 1-1 road draw by the San Jose Earthquakes.
Forward Lucas Janson, recently signed on loan from Argentine club Tigre, scored in his MLS debut for TFC. Chris Wondolowski replied for San Jose.
TFC (6-12-6) moved up from 10th to ninth in the Eastern Conference, but is now nine points back of the Montreal Impact, who hold down the sixth and final playoff berth in the East. The Impact beat the Chicago Fire 2-1 at home on Saturday. Toronto has two games in hand on Montreal.
With only 10 matches remaining in the regular season, and the gap with Montreal widening, Toronto is slowly running out of time to get back into the thick of the playoff race. If it’s going to make a move, it has to happen now, and next week’s home contest against the Impact is set up as the biggest game of the MLS season for the Reds. If they lose that, you’d have to think there is no way back for them. A win, on the other hand, could swing the momentum in their favour as the battle for the final playoff spot in the East heats up.
TFC had to make do without defender Chris Mavinga and forward Jozy Altidore, who were both suspended on Saturday. The Reds were also missing midfielder Victor Vazquez (knee) and fullback Auro Jr. (hamstring).
Coach Greg Vanney rotated his squad by giving rare starts to veteran defender Jason Hernandez, and young Canadians Jay Chapman and Jordan Hamilton. Sebastian Giovinco and Gregory van der Wiel started on the bench before entering the game as second-half substitutes.
Janson played through the middle just behind fellow forward Hamilton, effectively linking up with Jonathan Osorio and Marky Delgado in the attacking third. He was Toronto’s best player through the opening 20 minutes, but then grew quiet for the rest of the half before scoring the opening goal of the game.
Toronto dictated the pace of the match at first, but its defence looked wobbly and tentative as the half wore on. San Jose laid siege upon the Reds’ penalty area right up until the halftime break, and finished the opening 45 minutes with nine total shots, compared to just one for Toronto.
Goalkeeper Alex Bono made a pair of fabulous saves midway through the half, first denying San Jose’s Valeri Qazaishvili, and then parrying a powerful one-timer by Magnus Eriksson from 14 yards out.
A C C E S S D E N I E D @Alex25Bono#TFCLive | #SJvTOR pic.twitter.com/dzVIUc3QVU
— Toronto FC (@torontofc) August 19, 2018
Moments later, defender Justin Morrow was forced to make a crucial goal-saving block on an Earthquakes shot after Bono couldn’t hold on to the ball.
The home side continued to turn the screws on the MLS Cup champs after the halftime break, with Danny Hoesen flashing a shot from the edge of the six-yard box just over the crossbar.
Toronto captain Michael Bradley delivered a dangerous free kick to the far post that San Joe goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell flapped at, but the angle was too acute for Hamilton as his header looped over the crossbar.
Vanney made a double substitution in the 58th minute when he brought on Giovinco and van der Wiel. A minute later, the newcomers combined on a pretty passing play started by Bradley, with van der Wiel delivering a ball to the back post for Janson to tap into an empty net and give Toronto the lead.
Osorio nearly doubled the Reds’ advantage just moments later, but his shot hit the post, and Giovinco couldn’t convert on the rebound.
Janson left the game in the 66th minute, replaced by defender Drew Moor, as Vanney looked to lock things down. But San Jose exploited a huge space down the right side as Wondolowski broke in on goal off the wing. His first shot was tame, but Bono couldn’t control it, and Wondolowski chipped the rebound over the TFC goalkeeper. It was Wondowloski’s ninth goal in 14 career games against Toronto
NOTES: The all-time series between these teams is dead even, with five wins apiece and five draws in 15 meetings… TFC returns home to host the Impact next Saturday, and then heads out west again for a match against the Portland Timbers on Aug. 29. That road trip is followed by back-to-back home games against Los Angeles FC (Sept. 1) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (Sept. 15).
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