The visiting San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting KC wound up in a draw at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City Mo on Wed Jul 21, 2021 (image from @SJEarthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Just when the San Jose Earthquakes thought they had ended their long winless streak, Sporting KC scored the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

San Jose earned a point in its third consecutive match but remain winless in 10 straight matches. Sporting KC is now unbeaten in 12 straight matches.

A wild final 12 minutes, which included a controversial penalty by San Jose only to be overturned, was filled with drama and frustration on both sides of the ball.

Shea Salinas was whistled for a penalty inside the box on Johnny Russell in the 87th minute. After a video review, referee Joe Dickerson overturned the call.

San Jose weren’t able to escape out of danger, Cameron Duke won a free kick after a foul by Tanner Beason from 25 yards out in the third minute of stoppage time.

A minute later, Sporting KC scored the equalizer when Johnny Russel’s free kick ricochet off the post then off Marcinkowski and once again off the post again before the rebound was cleaned up by Dániel Sallói.

Sporting KC (8-3-3) garnered the majority of the scoring chances in a scoreless first half. They controlled most of the play in the attacking third as they peppered Quakes goalie JT Marcinkowski with five shots on target in the opening 45 minutes.

The home team, who came into the match with the league’s best offense with 24 goals, had its best chance to draw first blood in the 39th minute when Wilson Harris sent in a shot from 20 yards out that was headed for the upper left corner only to have an out-stretched Marcinkowski spoil the bid, knocking the ball away for a corner kick.

San Jose (3-7-4) were turning over the ball over that led to counter attacks by Sporting KC. They weren’t able to generate many scoring chances in the first half. Their best chance came in the 27th minute when Chris Wondolowski found Salinas inside the box only to have Salinas’ attempt blocked by a Sporting KC defender.

The Quakes broke the seal early in the second half. Cristian Espinoza serviced the ball into the middle off a corner kick where an unmarked Nathan on the left side of the six-yard box headed the ball inside the right post into the back of the net for his first career MLS goal and first goal as in a Quake uniform in the 53rd minute.

Nathan, in just his third game for San Jose, has made an immediate impact for head coach Matias Almeyda’s squad and not just for anchoring the back field. The Brazilian center back provided an offensive spark for the Quakes throughout the second half as he joined in on multiple offensive rushes.

“I think he can give a lot,” said Almeyda regarding Nathan’s play. “He makes a difference because he has experience in Europe and many other reasons that include technique, fitness and physique. I think that is the type of reinforcement that we needed.”

San Jose had a great chance to double its lead five minutes later. Espinoza spotted Wondolowski all alone just outside the box, but Wondo rushed his shot as Spoting KC goalie Tim Melia made an easy save on his attempt.

Carlos Fierro came in as a substitute for Chofis in the 76th minute. It was his first action since suffering a leg injury back on May 29th.

“I think we are making progress in every match. It does not matter if we are making little or big progress. The important thing is that we make that progress. You can see that in the last three matches that the team is playing with confidence and getting better. We are more secure and that gives us confidence to keep pushing. Playing as the away team is never easy and we should be pleased with these last three games in which we earned three points,” Nathan said.

Marcinkowski finished the evening with six saves, equaling a career high. Melia made two saves on three shots on target.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with nine corner kicks. Sporting KC had six.

Midfielder Judson was ejected from the match in the fifth minute of stoppage time in the second half when he earned his second yellow card of the match after committing a hard foul.

Forward Cade Cowell was called up to the US Men’s National Team on Tuesday to be on the roster for Gold Cup play. This is the 17-year old sensation’s first time being called up to the national team. He joins fellow teammate Jackson Yueill, who has been on the US roster since Gold Cup play began earlier this month.

San Jose holds an 25-28-9 all-time record against Sporting Kansas City, including an 8-21-2 record away from home. The last time the Quakes won in Kansas City was back on 8/19/2015 when they won 5-0.

Graham Zusi played in his 301st MLS games.

Eric Remedi has suffered 53 fouls this season, the most in MLS.

Sporting KC head coach Peter Vermes was unable to be on the sidelines due to being in Covid-19 protocols.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Houston Dynamo on on Saturday 7/24 at 7:00pm at Pay Pal Park.