Quakes deal major blow to TFC's playoff hopes

Cornell Glen's stoppage-time strike has San Jose playing spoiler

An unmarked Glen, a second-half substitute, pounced on a deflected cross off the head of Toronto defender Nana Attakora and slammed the ball into the back of the Toronto goal in a wild goalmouth scramble.

It was Attakora's 47th-minute goal which had given Toronto a 1-0 lead and the possibility of earning a vital three points in their postseason battle.

In their last match on Wednesday, San Jose saw their playoff hopes officially dashed by points hungry FC Dallas, who came away with a 2-1 win at Buck Shaw Stadium, while Saturday's draw dampened Toronto's hopes.

TFC now has 36 points with two games remaining, still sitting two points out of eighth place overall and the final wild card spot with a chance of being farther back by the end of the weekend.

The match had the promise of ending in a 0-0 stalemate after a relatively lackluster first half gave way to Attakora's second goal of the season for his hometown Reds.

Attakora raced into the penalty area and first-timed a left-footed shot past Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon and into the San Jose goal.

The play developed when Canadian international Julian de Guzman sent a chip pass to former Earthquakes midfielder Dwayne De Rosario on the right wing.

De Rosario then threaded the needle with a pinpoint rolling cross to an onrushing and unmarked Attakora, who made no mistake sending the ball past Cannon at point-blank range at the left post.

Toronto nearly added to their lead in the 56th minute after a frantic goalmouth scramble which saw defender Chris Leitch and De Rosario tangling for the ball on the San Jose goal line before the play was ruled offside.

Defender Jason Hernandez was injured during the play and was stretchered off the field, replaced by rookie striker Quincy Amarikwa as coach Frank Yallop searched for some offensive spark after failing to hit the target with any shots in the opening half.

The Quakes came close to leveling the score later in the second half but midfielder Antonio Ribiero sliced his hard shot wide of goal in the 76th minute and then midfielder Chris Wondolowski missed a close range effort one minute later.

Ahead of Saturday's game in Toronto, the injury bug and international duty had hit both teams hard with Toronto missing four of their first-choice starting XI and the Earthquakes missing five players.

The biggest absentee might have been TFC rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who dislocated a finger in practice on Monday, forcing Brian Edwards into his first start of the season.

Edwards was tested early on in the match, being forced to race off his line in the 14th minute to punch a dangerous throw by San Jose striker Ryan Johnson.

Also missing from the Toronto lineup were defensive midfield regular Carl Robinson (facial bone fracture) and defender Marvell Wynne (quad) while midfielder Amado Guevara was on international duty with Honduras.

The visiting Earthquakes were without midfielder Darren Huckerby (right hip surgery) and Andre Luiz (knee sprain). Hernandez started on the back line in place of Michael Zaher, the only change from the lineup that lost to FC Dallas last Wednesday.

International absentees also hit the Quakes hard with head coach Frank Yallop missing midfielders Simon Elliott (New Zealand), Arturo Alvarez and Ramon Sanchez (both El Salvador) due to 2010 World Cup qualifying action.

The two teams remained scoreless after a closely contested first half which saw few scoring chances for either team.

In the 24th minute Toronto had the first chance to go ahead in the match with Attakora forcing San Jose goalkeeper Cannon to make a diving two-handed save.

The ball appeared to be headed towards the open goal until midfielder Shea Salinas cleared the ball off the goal line.

One minute later San Jose striker Ryan Johnson found himself all alone against Edwards in front of the Toronto goal, but his shot trickled just wide of the post, keeping the score deadlocked at halftime.

In their next match, the Earthquakes travel to The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. for a game against Chivas USA before concluding the season seven days later at the same venue against the LA Galaxy.

Peter Mallett is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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