Match Facts
Scoring: TOR -- Chad Barrett 3 (Dwayne De Rosario 2) 5, SJ -- Darren Huckerby 2 (Ryan Johnson 2, Arturo Alvarez 2) 32, TOR -- Pablo Vitti 2 (Nana Attakora 3, Chad Barrett 3) 54, TOR -- Chad Barrett 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 3) 69
Toronto FC -- Stefan Frei, Marvell Wynne, Nick Garcia, Adrian Serioux, Nana Attakora, Dwayne De Rosario, Amado Guevara, Carl Robinson, Jim Brennan (Marco Velez 90), Chad Barrett (Danny Dichio 80), Pablo Vitti,
Substitutes Not Used: Brian Edwards, Gabe Gala, Emmanuel Gomez, Fuad Ibrahim, O'Brian White
San Jose Earthquakes -- Joe Cannon, Chris Leitch, Jason Hernandez, Aaron Pitchkolan (Shea Salinas 71), Michael Zaher, Arturo Alvarez, Simon Elliott, Brandon McDonald, Darren Huckerby, Pablo Campos (Cornell Glen 59), Ryan Johnson (Quincy Amarikwa 79),
Substitutes Not Used: Antonio Ribeiro, Jamil Roberts, Andrew Weber, Chris Wondolowski
Game in Six Minutes Chris Cummins Post-Game
Last time Toronto played -- if you can remember back that far -- I basically rolled out a Pravda-worthy laundry list of excuses for the club after a 3-0 drubbing in Salt Lake City. Altitude, short rest combined with cross-time zone travel -- I laid it all out there in a Squealer-like performance. And while it probably came off like it was from some type of grovelling apologist, the point I was trying to make was this: that game against Salt Lake was not an away fixture where you could realistically expect to get a result. Last night in San Jose was. And Toronto won. So that's good. I'm pressed for time, so onto the point form stuff...
- When I first saw the names in the team I figured Brennan would be at left back, Serioux in the middle, Attakora at right back and Wynne would push up on the wing with De Rosario on the left of midfield. I can't say I was too thrilled when I saw how Cummins deployed the team in the back (left-to-right Serioux, Garcia, Attakora, Wynne) but obviously it worked. Attakora and Garcia both had their shaky moments back there though, and I wonder if Cummins will stick with that central pairing against Houston next Saturday.
- Pablo Vitti played "in the hole" behind Chad Barrett (who now has six goals in all competitions this season by the way), and did a good job of running at defenders. Can't say I thought his first two goals in MLS would be headers...
- What the hell happened to Aaron Pitchkolan on that Barrett goal? It looked like he had some type of spontaneous testicular explosion or something. I'm sure it was a groin pull -- well at least I hope it was a groin pull -- but damn. Every guy felt his pain there.
- You could clearly see Toronto was a well rested team last night. They got stronger as the second half wore on, while San Jose fell apart. Darren Huckerby in particular looked to be sucking plenty wind in those final twenty minutes.
- Toronto deserves credit for playing a good road game last night. But good grief, did the 'Quakes ever help by being so crap. Here's a little nugget from the post-game report in the San Jose Mercury News:
"It was gross," goalkeeper Joe Cannon said after last-place San Jose lost 3-1 to Toronto FC in front of an announced crowd of 9,679 at Buck Shaw Stadium.
"You've got to be a man and stand up and play," Coach Frank Yallop said. "You've got to be a true professional — not nervous and scared. We didn't deserve anything. It was the worst game of the season."
Egad.