San Jose chases after Simon Dawkins (49) in celebration of what would be the winner in a 2-1 game.
The San Jose Earthquakes pulled off the improbable on Saturday night in San Jose, beating Toronto FC 2-1 after seeing both of their Panamanians ejected from the match. Anibal Godoy and Alberto Quintero both received straight red cards before Simon Dawkins scored the winner for San Jose.
Seven minutes into the match, San Jose thought they had the early lead as Simon Dawkins managed to find space in the center of the box and get a shot off in limited space. His shot deflected off of Wondolowski and past goalkeeper Alex Bono but Wondolowski was deemed a yard offside.
It took until the 26th minute for another chance on goal as the nearly 20 minutes beforehand had been plagued by poor passing by both sides. Again San Jose was on the beneficial end as Shaun Francis whipped in a cross to the far post where Quincy Amarikwa was there to meet it with his head but Bono was able to deflect it high and a Toronto defender cleared it over the bar.
Amarikwa would get the better of Bono in the 30th minute as Fatai Alashe made a run down the left side of the field and put a low cross towards the feet of a running Amarikwa who redirected it into the back of the net.
San Jose celebrates Quincy Amarikwa after taking a 1-0 lead against Toronto.
The first card of the match came out in the 33rd minute when Alashe challenged Jonathan Osorio for a bouncing ball and got Osorio’s foot instead.
San Jose’s luck turned in the 42nd minute though as Godoy challenged Tsubasa Endoh in the center of the field and caught the top of Endoh’s foot. Head referee Alejandro Mariscal looked to be reaching for a yellow initially but after talking with his assistant decided to give Godoy a straight red.
Toronto capitalized on the man advantage almost immediately as a cross from the left corner from Jordan Hamilton was deflected by Steven Beitashour at the top of the six-yard-box and down to the waiting foot of Justin Morrow for an easy tap in. Officially just two minutes after the red to Godoy, the goal left the home crowd stunned before a delayed boo echoed through Avaya Stadium.
Moments later boos rang out again, this time directed at the referees as the first half whistle was blown.
Quakes fans were not happy with the decisions from Alejandro Mariscal
With the man advantage and a 15 minute break to strategize for it, Toronto came out to start the first half pushing the tempo and possession to try and get the go ahead goal.
To make matters worse for the Quakes, Alejandro Mariscal again went for the back pocket this time sending off Quintero in the 53rd minute for a late, studs up challenge again on Endoh.
Dominic Kinnear was forced to go to his bench and bring on Shea Salinas in the 58th minute for Amarikwa, pulling the team into a very defensive 4-3-1 formation.
In the 70th minute the script was completely flipped as Cordell Cato and Dawkins countered off of a Toronto turnover. Dawkins beat every defender and unleashed a knuckling shot from the top of the box that completely caught Bono off guard and found the back of the net to put nine-man San Jose up 2-1 with 20 minutes to play.
The Quakes dogpile on Simon Dawkins after he gave nine-man San Jose a 2-1 lead over Toronto.
“No [it didn’t take a deflection]it just moved.” said Dawkins after the match, “Sometimes that happens when you catch it right so thankfully it did and it went in.”
Simon Dawkins takes a shot that would beat Toronto keeper Alex Bono for a 2-1 Quakes lead.
“I think that might be the loudest I’ve heard this place” after the goal said Kinnear. “You could feel the sense of the stadium, and everybody, just the attitude changed by Simon’s goal.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney immediately made a substitution, bringing on Mo Babouli for Steven Beitashour in the 72nd minute and then a double substitution in the 76th as Nick Hagglund and Marco Delgado came on for Jordan Hamilton and Jonathan Osorio.
There was still plenty of time for Toronto to score but every time a dangerous ball was teased into the box, David Bingham was out to punch away or make a confident grab and relieve some pressure on his defense.
The San Jose defense was fantastic as well as numerous clearances were made although maybe none more important than Bernardez’s right in front of goal with minutes left to play. Ultimately the Quakes’ desperate defending was enough to hold off Toronto and get the improbable win for an ecstatic crowd.
Kinnear said afterwards, “The second half seemed to last six hours especially after Alberto [Quintero] got sent off.”
“I don’t know how it looked on the sideline with me and my demeanor but I definitely was dying inside.”
Vanney mostly rued the missed opportunity his team had being up two men in the second half, “We weren’t precise enough with our crosses and we weren’t connecting on the end of our crosses… Its a big lost opportunity for us.”
Chris Wondolowski celebrates with his daughter after a stunning 2-1 victory against Toronto.
Neither Kinnear nor Wondolowski had any comments on the referee and the red card decision although Wondolowski did say, “My mom once said ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’ and especially since we won I’m not going to get fined.”
San Jose now travels to Utah to take on Real Salt Lake on Friday night while Toronto returns home to face D.C. United on Saturday.
Summary:
San Jose: Bingham; Cato, Bernardez, Stewart, Francis; Quintero, Godoy, Alashe, Dawkins (Jahn 89’); Wondolowski (Barrett 87’), Amarikwa (Salinas 58’)
Toronto: Bono; Moor, Morrow, Williams, Beitashour (Babouli 72’); Cheyrou, Osorio (Delgado 76’), Chapman; Endoh, Hamilton (Hagglund 76’), Giovinco
Goals:
San Jose: Amarikwa 30’ (Alashe), Dawkins 70’ (Cato)
Toronto: Morrow 45’ (Hamilton, Beitashour)
Discipline:
San Jose: Alashe 33’ (Caution), Godoy 42’ (Ejection), Quintero 53’ (Ejection)
Toronto: None
