It was quite the chippy match at Buck Shaw Stadium last night as the San Jose Earthquakes hosted Toronto FC looking for their first home victory of the season. But in a match that saw 8 yellow cards, Toronto FC’s Alan Gordon and the San Jose Earthquakes’ Simon Dawkins both scored, as the teams scrapped it out to a 1-1 draw Saturday night.
Gordon took advantage of a defensive mistake by the Quakes in the 27th minute to give Toronto (1-1-2) the lead. San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch rushed from the net to grab a deflection, but midfielder Sam Cronin was unaware of Busch’s move and tried to clear the ball with a header. It landed 4 yards from the goal, where Gordon pounced for his for second score of the season.
Dawkins responded in the 38th minute for San Jose (1-1-2) as he took a pass from Chris Wondolowski and sent a shot past Stefan Frei.Wondolowski, the MLS’ leading scorer in 2010, almost put the Quakes up in the 51st minute, but Frei stopped his shot from 13 yards, and Wondolowski’s attempt on the rebound was blocked.
Gordon had a chance in the 56th when Ramiro Corrales’ back pass fell well short of goal, but Gordon couldn’t get much on the shot, easily controlled by San Jose’s back Brandon McDonald. McDonald created a chance at the other end 4 minutes later when he dribbled through Toronto’s midfield and sent a through pass for Ryan Johnson, who tried unsuccessfully to dribble around but lost possession without getting off a shot.
Next up for the Earthquakes is a trip to New York next Saturday, April 16 to take on the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. Kick off is set for 4:30 p.m.
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