Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Earthquakes took on one of the best teams in the east and came out with a hard fought victory 2-1.

San Jose came out tonight with a 4-3-3 formation and with Daniel de Sousa Brito starting in goal. While for Philadelphia they came out in a 3-4-1-2 formation with Andre Blake in between the pipes.

The black-and-blue’s offense got off to a quick start in this match as Cade Cowell received a crisp pass from Jeremy Ebobisse in the midfield. Cowell took the pass and ran with it but with a defender on him he cut back and made a beautiful pass to Ebobisse who was just outside of the box. Ebobisse took the pass and deposited into the left part of the net giving San Jose an early 1-0 lead at just the eight minute mark.

It did not take long for Philadelphia to respond as they got a couple free kicks go their way. Then on a corner kick at the 16 minute mark for Philadelphia Damion Lowe was left wide open out front. He headed the corner home and tied the game back up at one.

At the 29 minute mark of the first half the away team continued the pressure as Mikael Uhre got an attempt on goal that Brito saved. The rest of the first half saw San Jose not get another attempt on net while Philadelphia finished with five.

The second half got started with Brito having to make another save as this time Julián Carranza got a shot on goal.

After the save the Earthquakes got a burst of chances as they got three attempts with all of the missing.

Not long after the rush of offense from San Jose Miguel Trauco received a pass from Carlos Gruezo just outside of the box. Despite the distance Trauco shot an absolute bomb and picking the right corner of the net and giving the Earthquakes a 2-1 lead at the 57 minute mark.

The goal despite firing up the crowd seemed to fire up Philadelphia as well as Uhre once again got another shot on goal.

The rest of the second half saw San Jose just barely holding on as Philadelphia dominated possession and chances.

With only three minutes of added time the Earthquakes were able to hold on to their one goal lead winning 2-1.

The stats in this one favored the away team mostly as possession at the end of the match was 52% to 47% in favor of Philadelphia. The shots on goal showed that as well at 7-2.

The Earthquakes next match will be on Saturday against Portland at home at 7:30 p.m.