by Marko Ukalovic
LOS ANGELES, Calif.- Nick Lima could not have picked a better time to score his first multi-goal game of his carrer.
The San Jose defenseman led the offensive attack by scoring the first and last goal for the Earthquakes in a 4-0 shutout route of the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday evening in the fourth installment of the California Classico at Dignity Health Sports Park.
The win for San Jose gives them 23 points, tied for sixth place in the Western Confernce with Minnesota United. LA suffered their six straight loss and currently reside in the basement of the West. The Quakes are 6-2-2 in their last 10 matches against the Galaxy.
San Jose (6-7-5) dominated the match from start to finish in just their second road win of the season. They controlled the possession by a two-thirds margin over their SoCal rival.
The Quakes hard work payed off in the 44th minute when Carlos Fierro found Andy Ríos on the left side of the box. Ríos then chipped it into the middle where Lima fired a shot past Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Klinsmann for his first goal of the season.
Klinsmann, the son of former US Men’s National Soccer team coach and World Cup champion Jurgen Klinsmann, made his MLS debut and first career start for Galaxy head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
It was a debut to forget for the 23-year old native of Munich, Germany. His team played sloppy and at times lifeless out on the pitch with countless turnovers that resulted in San Jose counter attacks that kept Los Angeles (4-9-3) on its heels the whole match.
San Jose picked up in the second half where they left off in the first. In the 52nd minute, the Quakes doubled its lead when Fierro sent a perfect cross into the middle where Ríos sped past Nick DePuy and kicked in a one-timer past Klinsmann for his team leading fifth goal of the season.
“Carlos (Fierro) and I have a good relationship beyond the pitch,” said Ríos about the chemistry the duo have created with each other. “We got to know each other well even though I got to play a little more than he did last year due to his injuries. Regardless he’s doing really well now, he’s fit. We are both doing very well physically. We always want to combine with one another and having good movement on the field creates a good connection. He’s doing really well in having the ability to cross the ball accurately to players inside the box. He’s always looking for a teammate and doesn’t do it blindly. His game is noticeable now and is important to our game.”
The closest the Galaxy came to getting on the scoreboard was in the 58th minute when Cristian Pavón had a good look at the net but his shot was stopped by Quakes goalkeeper J.T. Marcinkowski.
San Jose continued to pour it on in the 76th minute. From midfield, Jackson Yueill sent in a long ball to a wide open Tommy Thompson down the middle. Thompson’s initial shot was knocked away by Klinsmann, but Thompson gathered his own rebound and from angle a geometry teacher would be proud of, slammed the ball into the far side of the net for his first goal of the season.
“I think we have repeated this type of performance many times in the past, except without the goals. Even when things were going badly, we always had this system of play. A few times we were able to achieve this offensive system. We are happy with today’s victory. However, we are not surprised that Nick [Lima] and Tommy [Thompson] scored tonight. 10 days ago, Paul Marie scored a goal and 15 days ago, Marco Lopez also scored a goal. It’s nice when we are able to finish the play but it’s not surprising because that’s always what we’re aiming for,” Almeyda said.
Lima then put the icing on the cake for the Quakes two minutes into stoppage time for his second goal of the contest. Cade Cowell, celebrating his 17th birthday on the evening, made a nice move around a Galaxy defender near the endline before chipping the ball back into the middle where Lima blasted the ball into the upper middle of the net where a defenseless Klinsmann could only watch and cringe.
“I think that the team is very confident, and we want to make a push,” said captain Chris Wondolowski about his team’s chances on making the playoffs with five matches remaining. “I think that making the playoffs is first and foremost. We want to do that. We want to do that any way, shape, or form. I think that we learned a lot from last year, and I’m hoping we learned a lot from our mistakes. We can’t rely and depend on the last day. We have to put everything against the wall. We have to be smart. We have to get points where we can. That being said, we want to host. We want to be in the top four. I think that’s our sights right now, where we want to be, and where we think we can be. We have a lot of work that we still need to do. I still think there’s a lot of points out there, but I think that’s a reasonable goal. I think that’s something we’re shooting for, but first and foremost, we’ve got to get into those playoffs. Once we do, we know we can make a run.”
Marcinkowski finished the match with three saves for his second shutout of the season. Klinsmann made a valiant effort with seven saves in the loss.
GAME NOTES: San Jose had five corner kicks. LA had four.
Lima was named the Man of the Match.
The Galaxy were shorthanded with Jonathan Dos Santos and Rolf Feltscher out due to international play. The Quakes were without Vako, Guram Kashia and Marcos Lopez for the same reason.
With Lima and Thompson each scoring their first goals of the season, 15 different players have now scored for San Jose in 2020, the third most in a single season in Quakes history despite having played just 18 games to date.
Cowell was credited with the assist on Lima’s second goal, marking the first assist of his MLS career.
Rios was also credited with an assist on Lima’s first goal, marking the first assist of his MLS career.
UP NEXT: The Quakes return home to host Western Conference leader Seattle Sounders on Sunday 10/18 at 7:30pm at Earthquakes Stadium.
