By: Joe Lami

photo from sjearthquakes.com: Promo for MLS Classico at Stanford Stadium on Saturday between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy

PALO ALTO, Calif.—The California Clasico never disappoints and 2016’s episode adds another great chapter to the historic rivalry between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The game that really saw everything, between great chances, red cards, and nearly all of the 50,816 fans in attendance yelling homophobic slurs ended in a 1-1 draw, thanks to some late heroics by the never-say-die Quakes.

The fans at Stanford Stadium truly saw fireworks on the pitch Saturday evening, right before one of the largest annual Bay Area firework displays lit up the Palo Alto sky.

San Jose had their mojo early, despite losing center back, Victor Bernardez to a right leg injury in just the seventh minute. Forward, Chad Barrett replaced him, changing the formation with the substitution. Barrett ended up being a vital piece for the Quakes, creating some great chances and knocking home the only San Jose goal of the evening in 90th minute.

The first half ended with no score, although San Jose had 12 of their 23 shot attempts.

Los Angeles scored first, netting home a header in the 69th minute. Steven Gerrard floated a cross from the right side into the middle of the box to find a wide open Giovani dos Santos for the 1-0 lead.

“I thought it was a really soft goal to give up. The ball was in the air a really long time,” said Earthquakes’ coach Dominic Kinnear.

Shea Salinas came in the 62 minute for San Jose, subbing Matias Perez Garcia and ended up being the difference maker. The guy known for his beautiful crosses had been working his magic, and it finally paid off in the 90th minute on a set piece when he found the head of Barett for the late equalizer. Barrett jumped high above the Galaxy defense and headed a one-bouncer past keeper, Brian Rowe for the score.

On military appreciation night, the pitch turned into a war-zone towards the end of the contest, as he nastiness reigned down, finishing with Ashley Cole receiving a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct just before the final whistle blew. LA coach, Bruce Arena, commented on the officiating, “if the officials look at that last 15 minutes of that game, they’d be very disappointed in their performance. That was a poor display.”

San Jose is content with the outcome, as they feel like they did enough to win the contest, but are also happy getting a point of it as well. Both San Jose and Los Angeles are battling for playoff position in the Western Conference. LA currently is one point up on San Jose in the standings. Each team has played 16 games.