Game thread: Toronto FC 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes (FT)

FT — Chris Wondolowski does it again. Now the record-holder for most goals against Toronto FC (11), Wondolowski, whose second goal was also the 150th in his illustrious MLS career, earned his team another victory. Toronto FC weren’t terrible in this game, but missed chances and defensive lapses were once again fatal.

They’ll try to bounce back in Vancouver on Friday.

90’ — Marky Delgado drives one across the box, but Terrence Boyd can’t stretch far enough to get his foot on it.

82’ — Jordan Hamilton in for Nick DeLeon. TFC now have the same number of strikers on the pitch as they do midfielders.

81’ — Toronto FC 1-2 San Jose Earthquakes — Chris Wondolowski scores his second of the match, and becomes the first person to score 11 times against Toronto FC.

74’ — Jozy Altidore floats a cross into the box, but Marky Delgado’s header goes just over the crossbar.

73’ — Auro is replaced by Jay Chapman. Looks like Laryea has moved into Auro’s right back position, and Chapman has gone higher up the pitch.

69’ — The game is getting a bit feisty now. A few yellow cards have been handed out recently, and the referee has given a few players a final warning.

65’ — Ashtone Morgan is elbowed in the face by Cristian Espinoza. Espinoza is given a yellow card, and the play was the subject of a VAR review to see if it’s worthy of a red, but one wasn’t given.

61’ — Justin Morrow is replaced by Terrence Boyd.

59’ — Richie Laryea dances in the box a bit and plays the ball into Justin Morrow, but Morrow’s shot is saved.

46’ — The second half is underway!

HT — Not a bad half from the Reds, but the goal from Chris Wondolowski really killed their momentum. Richie Laryea has been excellent in the opening 45 minutes, and was rewarded with the lone TFC goal.

37’ — Toronto FC 1-1 San Jose Earthquakes — TFC killer Chris Wondolowski redirects a cross from Cristian Espinoza into the back of the net.

37’ — The ball is headed through the middle for Jozy Altidore, but he can’t catch up to it.

34’ — Tommy Thompson’s impressive audition for the Toronto Wolfpack is all for nothing, as his tackle on Ashtone Morgan earns him a yellow card.

31’ — The ball falls to Nick DeLeon in the six-yard box, but he can’t control it, and it goes out for a goal kick.

28’ — Toronto FC 1-0 San Jose Earthquakes — Richie Laryea scores his first Toronto FC goal! He’s been TFC’s best player so far in this one, and is rewarded for his efforts, redirecting a cross into the roof of the net. It’s also his first career MLS goal.

13’ — Richie Laryea shakes off a few challenges and goes around a defender, but his shot is just wide of the far post.

10’ — Auro collided with Magnus Eriksen, and both were down getting treatment for a few minutes. They shake hands and are now back on the pitch.

2’ — Seba is back in town and sitting with TFC President Bill Manning.

1’ — Richie Laryea gets this match underway!

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Lineups

Toronto FC:

Looks like another back five for Toronto FC, with Ashtone Morgan at centre-back. Beyond that, my best guess is that TFC are using a 4 man midfield, with Laryea and DeLeon on the wings, and Jozy Altidore as the lone forward.

Despite being listed in the starting lineup, Jozy Altidore isn’t out for warmups, and Jordan Hamilton is warming up with the starters. (Edit: He’s now emerged from the tunnel, about 20 minutes after everyone else - not sure what his status is)

Michael Bradley isn’t even in the 18, and neither is Jonathan Osorio. Drew Moor takes the captain’s armband.

San Jose Earthquakes:

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Toronto FC’s congested May schedule is finally behind them, and they definitely did not come out of it unscathed. Of their five games in 14 days (stretching from May 4 to 18), they were 1-1-3, scoring three goals and allowing seven. Over the four-game winless streak they’re now on, they’ve scored just once (and not at all from open play — thanks Martyn).

So, not great.

The Reds have had a full week to recharge now, and they’ll try to right the ship against the San Jose Earthquakes. The good news? The Quakes aren’t very good, sitting ninth in the MLS Western Conference.

The bad news? San Jose’s Chris Wondolowski has Toronto’s number. He’s got nine goals against the Reds, one off the lead for all-time TFC killers.

Also, the Earthquakes may be in ninth, but they’ve already got as many wins (four) as they had all last season — and TFC weren’t even able to beat them last year. With 14 points through 12 matches, they have seen a bit of an upturn in form recently, having picked up points in five of their last six matches.

Their most recent game, a 4-1 victory against the Chicago Fire last Saturday, was a bit more special than any other, as Wondolowski scored all four of their goals. Something even more impressive is that with the goals, he passed Landon Donovan for most goals in Major League Soccer history.

The Quakes are a week removed from a 4-1 win over the Chicago Fire. They’ve beaten some good teams this year, including another 4-1 over Sporting Kansas City and a 3-0 defeat of the Portland Timbers.

San Jose are pretty much even with TFC in shots per game (both around 13) and average possession (55%, joint-third in MLS). They also allow a lot of shots, though, so the likes of Jozy Altidore could get some decent looks.

The Reds are without Alejandro Pozuelo today, as he serves a one-game suspension for the red card he received last time out. The ball seems to go through Pozuelo on every attack, so there will be some major tactical changes implemented.

Other than that, it seems TFC are fairly healthy (although there was word of Michael Bradley missing training with a nagging muscle injury midweek).

Anyway, this’ll be a pretty important one for TFC to win at home. At the very least, they need the attack to start clicking. Toronto FC have been struggling a bit as of late, and could use a bit of a boost in confidence. With a win against San Jose, they could start to climb up the table again, but they have to take it one step at a time.

It sounds like Benedict really went all in on the Old Town Road stuff while I was gone. He really wanted me to continue his streak, but I’ve got something better.

Benedict contributed a lot to this game thread, so here’s his song of choice for this week as well:

Team news: injuries & suspensions

Toronto FC: Alejandro Pozuelo is serving his automatic one-game suspension. TFC have no major injuries, but Michael Bradley is apparently dealing with a minor issue (but he’ll play).

San Jose Earthquakes: All good, apparently.

Pregame reading

Predicting Toronto FC’s lineup vs. San Jose

Toronto FC Prediction League Round 15 (vs. San Jose)

TFC Reference Library: May Day! May Day!

How to prepare for earthquakes (Red Cross)

How to watch

Match date/time: Sunday, May 26, 7:30 p.m. ET
TV channel: TSN 4 (Canada), NBC Sports California
Live stream: TSN GO, ESPN+
Radio: TSN 1050 (Toronto)