Major League Soccer saw one of the most intriguing matches of the night when the referee and San Jose provided a memorable performance for viewers.
San Jose were looking to snap a seven game winless streak and move up the Western conference table. They have a pretty good home record while Toronto came into the match on the back of an away draw at Columbus, hoping to get a big three points at Avaya Stadium. The Earthquakes' determination saw them through this match and they came out as two-one winners over TFC.
Godoya's red card gives Toronto a lifeline
For all of San Jose's first half dominance, they only had one goal to show for it. Also, after Godoya received his marching orders in the forty-second minute, Toronto wasted no time in bringing themselves back into the match.
The half started off with both teams trading posession untilt San Jose began to put pressure on Josh Williams, Drew Moor and Benoit Cheyrou, pushing Toronto back further and further towards their own goal. The first chance of the half fell to San Jose as they worked the ball around until Shaun Francis sent in a cross far post to a waiting Alberto Quintero but his diving header is saved by Toronto's goalkeeper Alex Bono. The goal that San Jose deserved came in the twenty-ninth minute when Fatai Alashe powered down the left flank before picking out Quincy Amarikwa in the box, Amarikwa made no mistake from so close to the goal and slotted it home easily.
The momentum shifted in the thirty-third minute when the referee, Alejandro Mariscal, decided that Aníbal Godoy's foul on Tsubasa Endoh deserved a straight red card. One could see why the referee and his assistant decided to give a red for that foul but considering that there had been three other tackles of a similar nature in the match before this one which had not been punished, you could see why the Earthquakes were incensed with this decision.
Toronto used this man advantage to great effect and quickly began to pull San Jose's backline wide in order to create space for themselves in front of goal. The tactic worked as in the forty-third minute, Steven Beitashour delivered a lovely cross that Justin Morrow slid home to give Toronto the equalizer.
San Jose's resilience shines through
The second half's first chance actually fell the way of San Jose as they rallied to try and prevent Toronto from getting the wining goal. A long throw in the forty-sixth minute found Quintero in the box but his first touch let him down and Bono was able to smother the ball. Toronto then followed this with a chance of their own one minute later as Sebastian Giovinco, who up until this point had had a very quiet game by his standards, managed to get behind the Earthquakes defenders but his shot at the near post was well-saved by David Bingham.
The referee, Mariscal, was once again the centre of attention as in the fifty-third minute, he proceeded to show a second straight red card to the Earthquakes as Quintero was adjuged to have come in studs up against Endoh. It must be noted that the referee was overseeing only the second MLS match of his career, the first one coming in 2010, and his inexperience showed in his hesitancy every time he blew the whistle on a foul. San Jose was now down to nine men and Toronto began to pile on the pressure.
Beitashour was again active on the right flank and he floated in a ball that was cleared off the line by San Jose's Cordell Cato. Jordan Hamilton had the next opportunity to give Toronto the lead as Jonathon Osorio found him in the box with a great cross but Hamilton could only place his header right at Bingham. Ten minutes later, Giovinco left his marker on the floor before trying a left-footed long range effort which he watched sail wide.
At this point, many thought it would only be a matter of time before Toronto found the goal that they were looking for but San Jose had other ideas. In the seventieth minute, Simon Dawkins made a lung-busting run from his own half of the field, proceeded to take on three Toronto defenders before cutting inside to his right and unleashing a shot towards goal. Toronto's goalkeeper Bono seemed to have the shot covered but he completely misjudged the ball and could only watch it sail past his left hand and into the net as San Jose took the lead once again.
Toronto began to throw numbers forward as they searched for the equalizer but time and time again, the Earthquakes worked hard to block and clear every shot that came into their box. Bingham and Víctor Bernárdez were especially strong at the back for San Jose as they constantly came up big for the Earthquakes to prevent Toronto from finding the equalizer they so desperately wanted.