Recap: Laryea bags his first as TFC fall at home

Toronto FC failed to win for the fifth time in a row on Sunday as they lost 2-1 at home against the San Jose Earthquakes.

It was, at times, a more positive performance than the Reds have put in recently, with some very bright performances from the likes of Auro, Liam Fraser, and, especially, Richie Laryea. However, breakdowns at key times and an inability to properly unlock Jozy Altidore in the box were TFC’s downfall.

Laryea scored the lone goal for TFC, his first ever in MLS (and, of course, for Toronto). His long throw-in found Altidore, who flicked it into the path of Marky Delgado with his head. Delgado sent it across the box to Laryea, and he finished very cleanly into the left side.

TFC’s lead lasted less than ten minutes, though: in the 37th minute, Chris Wondolowski (who else?) smashed home a good cross to even it up.

TFC continued to press throughout the second half, but they were unable to find a breakthrough; although they had the ball in the attacking end pretty much the whole time, it’s hard to say they had many proper scoring chances (although Justin Morrow and Terrence Boyd could’ve done better in the box on a couple of occasions).

Just as it looked like the Reds were set to play out another dull home draw, Wondolowski scored an almost identical goal to his first, making him the all-time greatest TFC killer.

Terrence Boyd came quite close to knocking in an equalizer in stoppage time, but no dice. The Reds lost again at home, to a non-playoff team.

Despite the loss, there were certainly things to like in TFC’s game, Laryea’s performance especially. Liam Fraser was a pretty commanding presence in Michael Bradley’s absence as well. One does have to wonder, though, if Altidore is still feeling his injury.

Still, TFC definitely suffered from what Greg Vanney has often referred to as “possession without purpose.” They had the ball, they pressed, but they didn’t threaten as much as they should have.

The substitutes probably should’ve entered the match earlier; all three of Boyd, Jay Chapman, and Jordan Hamilton had positive impacts on the game, and they all got better as their minutes progressed, but TFC ran out of time.

On to the next one, then. The Reds will get Alejandro Pozuelo back for their trip to Vancouver this Friday, and it’s hard to imagine Bradley won’t be back as well.

Stats

Shots: TOR 13, SJ 10
Shots on target: TOR 3, SJ 3
Possession: TOR 47.3%, SJ 52.7%
Duels won: TOR 41, SJ 48

TFC’s Man of the Match