TORONTO — A 2-2 tie that felt like a loss proved to be another painful lesson for Toronto FC as it rebuilds under coach Bob Bradley.
Jack Skahan, who entered the game in the 83rd minute, scored his first MLS goal two minutes into stoppage time to earn the San Jose Earthquakes a road point and spoil a spirited Toronto comeback Saturday.
“Painful,” said Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westberg who made a fine save to deny Jeremy Ebobisse seconds earlier. “Yes painful but also (a) great reaction in the second half.”
Goals by Deandre Kerr and Jonathan Osorio had seemed to earn Toronto (5-10-4) three badly needed points.
But an attempted clearance by Ifunanyachi Achara ricocheted off a sliding San Jose captain Jackson Yuell and sent the ball back into the Toronto penalty box, allowing Skahan to hammer a low shot past Westberg in the 92nd minute.
“I definitely have that save in me,” said Westberg, who was being hard on himself.
Toronto, coming off back-to-back home loses to Seattle and Columbus, has managed just two wins in its last 12 league outings (2-8-2).
And with four of its next five games are on the road, TFC was looking to pick up points against a San Jose team that has yet to win on the road (0-6-3) this season.
Bradley liked his team’s response in the second half, if not the ending.
“We do step up in a more aggressive way, we do play at a higher tempo,” he said. “And now you’ve got to finish the game. It’s just a game you have to win … We let the points slide.”
More work is needed on closing out a game.
“At the end, when everything requires that extra little bit of concentration, that extra little bit of knowing what every moment’s about, you’ve got to have everybody understanding,” said Bradley. “Even if you have a large percentage of the guys on the field at that moment who understand it, if a couple don’t then you can still pay the price.”
Toronto outshot San Jose 16-9 (6-3 in shots on target) and had 56 per cent possession.
The ‘Quakes (4-7-7) now are unbeaten in their last four meetings (1-0-3) with Toronto.
Ebobisse scored his 10th of the season to put the ‘Quakes ahead in the 26th minute.
But after a unproductive opening 45 minutes, Toronto came out with more purpose in the second half and finally beat ‘Quakes goalkeeper J.T. Marcinkowski in the 71st minute on a rapid-fire counterattack.
Osorio sent the ball ahead to Kerr and, with the defence backing away, the 19-year-old homegrown product curled a low shot from just outside the penalty box…