Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: London Donson

SAN JOSE, Calif. — It was a gorgeous evening in San Jose, California as the ever-reeling Earthquakes hosted the Real Salt Lake at Avaya Stadium Saturday night. With exactly three months until the Quakes’ final regular season match, San Jose is trying to salvage a season that is long lost to them at this point. With only two wins, they are the bottom feeders with 12 points, the least in all of Major League Soccer. Real Salt Lake sits at sixth in the Western Conference and looking to improve on their postseason position.

The beginning of the game was punctuated by injury as several fouls early contributed to stoppage time. In the seventh minute, Real Salt Lake’s Albert Rusnak was the game’s first substitution. Aggressive, chippy play would prove to be the story of the night. 34 fouls were committed, 16 by the Quakes, and 18 by Real Salt Lake with five yellow cards between both clubs. Both teams we consistently off balance and chances were squandered all match.

Credit should be given to the Quakes goalie Tarbell, who had a number of quality saves to keep the score at nil-nil. If he can continue to gain clean sheets with his level of play, the rest of the club will be able to figure it out offensively. The Quakes’ offense never gained any steam. No matter how many chances they had deep in the scoring third they failed to connect on key passes, were often out of position, and lacked synchronicity. Given their lack of offensive execution, they did a good job grinding out a draw against a team in Real Salt Lake, who is having a far better season.

Final: Quakes vs. Real Salt Lake match ends in scoreless draw.

Up Next: The Quakes will continue to look for answers on August 4 when they go on the road to face the No. 1 seed in the West–FC Dallas. Match time is set for 5:00 pm PDT.