Category: MLS

Earthquakes fall just short of comeback against Kansas City 2-1

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

After picking up only their fourth win of the season the Earthquakes looked to keep the good times rolling against Kansas City on Saturday evening.

The Earthquakes came out in a 3-4-3 with William Yarbrough in between the pipes. On the other side of the field Kansas City started in a 4-2-3-1 with Tim Melia getting the start in goal.

Kansas City was quick to get the upper hand in the match as they had a couple solid looks before the 20-minute mark.

At the 37-minute mark the Earthquakes were given the first yellow of the match as Benjamin Kikanovic was given one for a bad foul.

Only a minute later Sporting KC was handed a yellow with Tim Leibold being given the card for a bad foul as well.

Right before the first half came to a close, Kanas City got the first shot on goal in the match as Alan Pulido was denied by Yarbrough.

The second half of the match gave fans some action early on as at the 48th minute Erik Thommy put Kansas City on the board. It was a breakdown defensively from the Earthquakes but also just a nice move from Thommy who faked the shot made a nice cut and deposited the ball in the net.

With the momentum clearly in their favor Sporting KC struck again at the 57-minute mark as Alan Pulido scored off a beautiful feed from Nemanja Radoja.

The Earthquakes would make some late subs bringing on Jack Skahan and Paul Judd in exchange for Jeremy Ebobisse and Cristian Espinoza.

One of those subs ended up paying off as Skahan got the ball on the rush and passed it into the net off of one of the Kansas City defenders cutting the deficit in half. Khiry Shelton was the defender who the ball went in off of.

Not long after the goal the Earthquakes were given their second yellow of the game as Skahan was given one for a bad foul.

Still down by a goal San Jose was desperately looking to tie the game and they had a great look as Preston Judd got the ball right in the center of the box. Judd unfortunately though spiked the ball wide of the goal and the Earthquakes ended up failing to tie the game.

With the loss San Jose falls to 4-17-2 and Sporting KC moves up to 6-13-5.

The Earthquakes won’t have much time to rest as they take on Houston on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at home.

St Louis City’s Kijima and Lowen scores goals in 2-0 shutout of Earthquakes

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The 12th and 14th place teams in the Western Conference faced off on Wednesday night, as the San Jose Earthquakes visited Saint Louis City SC. Neither team has lived up to expectations to start the season and both have already made a manager chance this season.

For the Quakes, Ian Russell took over for Luchi Gonzalez on June 24. Meanwhile on July 1, Saint Louis fired Bradley Carnell who was replaced by John Hackworth on an interim basis. The change of coaches for St Louis must have worked Hackworth coached St Louis City SC to a 2-0 shutout of the Earthquakes.

Earthquakes Starting XI: Yarbrough, Costa, Beason, Rodrigues, Munie, Tsakiris, Skahan, Yueill, Kikanovic, Judd, Espinoza

Saint Louis Starting XI: Burki, Totland, Durkin, Parker, Reid, Blom, Klein, Lowen, Kijima, Vassilev, Thorisson

Saint Louis came out with a lot of pressure early, getting a couple shots in the first few minutes and dominating possession right out of the gate. San Jose got their first quality chance in the 9th minute when a counterattacking opportunity by Preston Judd forced Roman Burki to make his first save of the night.

The ensuing corner led to Burki punching the ball away before the play was ultimately called offside, ending the attack. In the 15th a Saint Louis cross found Nokkvi Thorisson right in front of the net, but he kicked it over the goal.

A shot from John Klein in the 20th minute nearly gave the home team an early lead but William Yarbrough was able to get a hand on it and tip it wide. Off of the corner Tim Parker had an attempt off of a header which went wide right of the goal.

Saint Louis broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when Yabrough misjudged a bouncing ball which went into the back of the net following a soft shot from Eduard Lowen. In the 41st minute, Saint Louis added a second goal off of a free kick.

The cross landed right in front of the goal, and Hosei Kijima tapped it into the netting. Tanner Beason prevented Saint Louis from making it 3-0 in the 45th with a fantastic goal line clearance after the ball was tipped by Yarbrough.

Despite the fact that the home team had a two goal lead heading into halftime, that score line didn’t fully show just how dominant of a performance it had been for Saint Louis. They were undoubtedly the 12th and 14th place teams in the Western Conference faced off on Wednesday night, as the San Jose Earthquakes visited Saint Louis City SC.

Neither team has lived up to expectations to start the season and both have already made a manager chance this season. For the Quakes, Ian Russell took over for Luchi Gonzalez on June 24. Meanwhile on July 1, Saint Louis fired Bradley Carnell who was replaced by John Hackworth on an interim basis.

Earthquakes Starting XI: Yarbrough, Costa, Beason, Rodrigues, Munie, Tsakiris, Skahan, Yueill, Kikanovic, Judd, Espinoza

Saint Louis Starting XI: Burki, Totland, Durkin, Parker, Reid, Blom, Klein, Lowen, Kijima, Vassilev, Thorisson

Saint Louis came out with a lot of pressure early, getting a couple shots in the first few minutes and dominating possession right out of the gate. San Jose got their first quality chance in the ninth minute when a counterattacking opportunity by Preston Judd forced Roman Burki to make his first save of the night.

The ensuing corner led to Burki punching the ball away before the play was ultimately called offside, ending the attack. In the 15th a Saint Louis cross found Nokkvi Thorisson right in front of the net, but he kicked it over the goal.

A shot from John Klein in the 20th minute nearly gave the home team an early lead but William Yarbrough was able to get a hand on it and tip it wide. Off of the corner Tim Parker had an attempt off of a header which went wide right of the goal.

Saint Louis broke the deadlock in the 28th minute when Yabrough misjudged a bouncing ball which went into the back of the net following a soft shot from Eduard Lowen. In the 41st minute, Saint Louis added a second goal off of a free kick.

The cross landed right in front of the goal, and Hosei Kijima tapped it into the netting. Tanner Beason prevented Saint Louis from making it 3-0 in the 45th with a fantastic goal line clearance after the ball was tipped by Yarbrough.

Despite the fact that the home team had a two goal lead heading into halftime, that score line didn’t fully show just how dominant of a performance it had been for Saint Louis. They were undoubtedly the better team, and looked to be taking advantage of the boost that typically comes with a coaching change.

Heading into the second half neither team made any changes, which was surprising for the Earthquakes. The first booking of the match came in the 56th minute when Jayden Reid tripped up Benjamin Kikanovic.

After the ensuing free kick, two members of Saint Louis went down for a short period of time before getting back up to their feet. Paul Marie, Hernan Lopez, Jeremy Ebobisse and Alfredo Moralesentered the match for Cristian Espinoza, Judd, Rodrigues and Niko Tsakiris in the 62nd minute.

For Saint Louis’s first substitution of the night, Sam Adeniran came on for Thorisson in the 64th. Adeniran nearly made an instant impact when he found himself inside the box with the ball and some space, but the shot went directly to Yarbrough.

San Jose’s substitutions weren’t doing quite as well, in the 66th minute Lopez picked up an almost instant yellow card. Vitor Costa got called for a foul and shown a yellow card during the 72nd minute. As the game seemed to be a lock for the home side by this point, Saint Louis made a couple of more substitutions in the 80th.

Although San Jose played better in the second half, they were unable to break the shutout and Saint Louis walked away with a 2-0 win. better team, and looked to be taking advantage of the boost that typically comes with a coaching change.

Heading into the second half neither team made any changes, which was surprising for the Earthquakes. The first booking of the match came in the 56th minute when Jayden Reid tripped up Benjamin Kikanovic.

After the ensuing free kick, two members of Saint Louis went down for a short period of time before getting back up to their feet. Paul Marie, Hernan Lopez, Jeremy Ebobisse and Alfredo Moralesentered the match for Cristian Espinoza, Judd, Rodrigues and Niko Tsakiris in the 62nd minute.

For Saint Louis’s first substitution of the night, Sam Adeniran came on for Thorisson in the 64th. Adeniran nearly made an instant impact when he found himself inside the box with the ball and some space, but the shot went directly to Yarbrough.

San Jose’s substitutions weren’t doing quite as well, in the 66th minute Lopez picked up an almost instant yellow card. Vitor Costa got called for a foul and shown a yellow card during the 72nd minute.

As the game seemed to be a lock for the home side by this point, Saint Louis made a couple of more substitutions in the 80th. Although San Jose played better in the second half, they were unable to break the shutout and Saint Louis walked away with a 2-0 win.

Earthquakes drop Cali Clásico against Galaxy 3-0

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

STANFORD- The Earthquakes took on the Galaxy in their special Cali Clásico match hosted at the Stanford’s stadium.

Tonight’s match saw Ian Russel lead the squad for the first time since the team parted ways with former head coach Luchi Gonzalez. For the time being Russel is still considered an interim manager after being promoted from his assistant coaching position.

For the Earthquakes it was William Yarbrough in-between the pipes while for the Galaxy John McCarthy got the nod.

It was a solid start for the quakes who had a couple solid early looks from Jeremy Ebobisse and Hernán López. That pressure lead to Mark Delgado being issued a yellow for a foul at the 22 minute mark giving Amahl Pellegrino a free kick.

Only seven minutes later the Galaxy got their second yellow of the night as this time Edwin Cerrillo was awarded one for a foul.

Once again San Jose was pushing as they forced McCarthy to make two saves in the span of just a few minutes. Despite all that LA got the first goal of the game at the 37 minute mark from Joseph Paintsil as he hit the back of the net with a shot from the center of the box.

The yellow’s in the first half were not done though as Jalen Neal was issued one at the 39th minute and San Jose’s Antônio Josenildo Rodrigues de Oliveira was given one for a foul as well.

At the 55th minute star center back Riqui Puig was subbed into the match and made an immediate impact. Just a couple minutes after being subbed in he won a free kick and then got a shot on goal at the 65th minute that was saved by Yarborough. He was not finished though as at the 72nd minute he surged forward and fired a bullet that beat Yarborough but hit iron. Thankfully for LA Dejan Joveljic was standing right there for the rebound and he headed the ball into a gaping cage making it 2-0.

More yellow’s were handed out as this time McCarthy was given one for poor sportsmanship.

With the game now winding down heading into stoppage time LA completely put the game away scoring at the first minute of stoppage time. The goal came from Mauricio Cuevas and ended up being the last one of the match finishing this one at 3-0.

The victory for LA is now their fourth in a row and now puts them up to 11-3-7.

With the loss San Jose falls to 3-15-2 as this club continues to look for answers in what has been a nightmare season.

San Jose will look to end their losing streak on July 3rd when they take on St. Louis on the road at 5:30 p.m.

Earthquakes annihilated by LAFC 6-2

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Photo courtesy of LAFC Twitter.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

The Earthquakes looked to pick up their first regular season win since May 11th against their California rivals LAFC.

The starting formation was the same on both sides of the pitch as both teams lined up in a 4-3-3. In goal for San Jose was Jacob Daniel Jackson while for LAFC it was Hugo Lloris.

LAFC’s domination started early in this one as just five minutes into the match Kei Kamara hit the post from the right side of the box.

After ten minutes passed LAFC would strike as Mateusz Bogusz scored a magnificent diving header from the center of the box assisted by Sergi Palencia.

Tacking onto the lead only a little later was Denis Bouanga who easily found himself wide open for a left footed finish from the center of the box.

With the score now 2-0 LAFC only pressed harder and scored yet again this time on a great header from Kamara assisted by Bogusz.

Despite the score the Earthquakes did respond with a flurry of chances but were unable to cash in on four attempts with two of them being on goal.

Right before the half Ryan Hollingshead was fortunate enough to score a lucky one as his shot deflected off an Earthquakes defender and past a helpless Jackson.

The scoring in the first half wasn’t finished as San Jose snuck one in at the third minute mark of stoppage time. The goal came from Antônio Josenildo Rodrigues de Oliveira with the goal being assisted by Cristian Espinoza.

The goal didn’t seem to kill LAFC’s momentum as they would score just three minutes into the second half as once again Bogusz found the score sheet making it 5-1.

San Jose managed to sneak another one past Lloris as the 57 mark as Benjamin Kikanovic headed one in off an assist from Hernán López.

In garbage time LAFC got another one to pad the stat sheet as Tomás Ángel scored assisted from Nathan Ordaz.

With an embarrassing loss tonight the Earthquakes now drop to an abysmal 3-14-2 putting them dead last in the western conference. On the flip side LAFC secures another win moving up to 11-4-4 making them first in the west due to their PPG of 1.95.

San Jose’s next regular season game will be the California Clasico at Stanford Stadium against the LA Galaxy on June 29th at 7:30 p.m.

NYCFC’s Martinez gets a hat trick as Quakes routed 5-1 in New York

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NYCFC’s Alonso Martinez (bottom center) is mobbed by his teammates after scoring a goal. Martinez scored a hat trick against the San Jose Earthquakes at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Fri May 31, 2024 (New York FC X photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes headed to New York City, specifically Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to take on New York City FC. San Jose has climbed out of the bottom spot in the Western Conference while NYC FC has been playing well, currently sitting in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. San Jose was running shorthanded on the backline, as both Carlos Akapo and Vitor Costa were suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

NYCFC’s Alonso Martinez scored himself a hat trick in a 5-1 win over the Quakes at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

San Jose Starting XI: Yarbrough, Marie, Wilson, Rodrigues, Beason, Tsakiris, Yueill, Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza, Ebobisse

New York City Starting XI: Freese, Gray, Thiago, Risa, O’Toole, Sands, Parks, Fernandez, Santiago Rodriguez, Wolf, Milatovic

The first ten minutes featured some end-to-end action, but San Jose was giving up some dangerous set pieces near their box early on. In the 15th minute, New York had a strong scoring chance after a nice passing play found its way to Hannes Wolf.

Had Bruno Wilson not been positioned perfectly, the shot would have easily found its way into the net, but the defender was able to get in front of it. Moments later, Wilson blocked a second shot, this time from Julian Fernandez. Immediately afterward, Fernandez fouled Amahl Pellegrino and picked up the night’s first yellow card.

Minutes later, Strahinja Tanasijevic fouled an attacking Niko Tsakiris and picked up New York’s second booking of the night, giving the Quakes a dangerous set piece of their own. They were unable to convert though.

In the 21st minute, Cristian Espinoza had a giveaway in San Jose’s defensive half. It gave New York a quality opportunity, but Kevin O’Toole was unable to get a strong shot off and it trickled out of play. In the 23rd, Jackson Yueill unintentionally elbowed Santiago Rodriguez and got San Jose’s first card of the night. In the 33rd minute, NYC nearly took the lead when Rodriguez had a great run into the box, then fired a shot that went just over the crossbar.

During that play, Wilson picked up an injury and exited the game, weakening the Earthquakes defense even more significantly. Daniel Munie came into the game to take Wilson’s place.

In the 38th, New York had an injury of their own as O’Toole went down holding his hamstring. He would also be substituted out, with Mitja Ilenic entering the match. Paul Marie nearly gave the Quakes a lead late in stoppage time, but was denied by the goalkeeper. Stoppage time would expire, and it would head into the break 0-0.

Just a minute into the half, a shot by Hernan Lopez went just wide of the goal. Wolf broke the deadlock for New York City in the 50th minute, despite the Earthquakes having a strong start to the half. It wouldn’t take long for the Earthquakes to get an equalizer though, as just three minutes later Pellegrino received a perfect pass from Lopez and put away his fifth of the season to make it a 1-1 game.

In the 58th, New York made a pair of substitutions hoping to get a spark and restore their lead. In the 61st, Tsakiris almost gave the Quakes their first lead of the night, but his shot rang off of the crossbar. Had the shot been just a bit lower, it would’ve been 2-1 in favor of the visiting side.

Rodriguez gave his team the lead once again just moments into the 80th minute when San Jose got pinned into their own box and were struggling to clear it. Maxi Morales passed it to Alonso Martinez who put the game away in the 85th minute, making it 3-1 with very little time remaining however New York wasn’t done yet.

Martinez made it a brace, with his second of the night just seven minutes later in stoppage time. Once again, that wasn’t all. Martinez added a third and final goal to complete a hat trick and New York walked away with a 5-1 victory. It was a game that was even for most of the night, but when it mattered most, New York wanted the result more and that was clear.

Portland’s quick start puts down San Jose 4-2 at Providence Park

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The Portland Timbers get a two goal defeat over the San Jose Earthquakes at Providence Park in Portland on Wed May 15, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes image)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes concluded their short two-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Portland Timbers at Providence Park. The Quakes pulled off a comeback in their last outing against the Colorado Rapids and hoped for a much better start in this affair. The Quakes couldn’t repeat the same performance taking loss to the Timbers 4-2.

San Jose Starting XI: Yarbrough, Costa, Wilson, Rodrigues, Akapo, Tsakiris, Gruezo, Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza, Ebobisse

Portland Starting XI: Crepeau, Zuparic, Mabiala, Miller, Mosquera, Chara, Evander, Asprilla, Antony, Mora, Moreno

Portland got off to a quick start, getting the first scoring attempt of the night in the second minute on a Dairon Asprilla shot that was saved by William Yarbrough. They continued bringing pressure as well, however, the Earthquake’s backline was holding strong as a shot from Antony from inside of the box a minute later was blocked by Carlos Akapo.

The following corner didn’t yield any results for the Timbers, but another scoring opportunity from Juan Mosquera sailed over the crossbar in the fourth minute. From there, things turned the corner a bit. The Earthquakes attack woke up and started creating some offensive opportunities of their own. Hernan Lopez and Cristian Espinoza both had shots blocked by Kamal Miller before Carlos Gruezo’s shot sailed wide left.

Things evened out a bit from there, with opportunities being far in between for roughly the next 20 minutes. Maxime Crepeau had to make his first real save of the night in the 31st minute when he got in front of a Jeremy Ebobisse header, however, it immediately led to Amahl Pellegrino getting it past him to make it 1-0 for the Quakes.

Just three minutes later, Hernan Lopez continued his dominant performance since joining the MLS by adding one of his own to make it 2-0 in favor of the visiting team. It quickly went from a tied game to the Timbers finding themselves in a very tough situation.

They desperately tried to get themselves on the board before halftime but were ultimately unsuccessful and heading into the break, the Earthquakes maintained their lead.

The TImbers made a couple of substitutions in the second half, bringing on Eric Miller and Jonathan Rodriguez to start the second half. The Earthquakes continuing their strong attack to start the second half, with Ebobisse having another shot blocked just a couple of minutes in.

In the 51st minute, Lopez nearly scored a second of the night but hit the crossbar. From there, Portland’s attack came alive with scoring chances from Antony and Rodriguez in short succession. Over the next 20 minutes, there was a lot of back and forth between the two teams, however, everything changed in the 71st minute when Bruno Wilson was shown a red card and the Earthquakes went down to ten men.

Just three minutes later, the Timbers would get themselves on the board when Evander scored on a penalty resulting from Wilson’s foul. The Quakes made a few moves at this point, bringing on Preston Judd and Tanner Beason. It wouldn’t take Portland long to tie things up, scoring a second goal in the 80th minute when Rodriguez was able to find the back of the net.

In the 90th minute, the Timbers would end up getting a second penalty and scored on that attempt as well to give them a 3-2 lead heading into stoppage time. They controlled the attack for the entirety of stoppage time, and eventually, Rodriguez scored his second of the night in the 100th minute making it 4-2 and that’s how the game would end.

The Earthquakes started off strong, but a red card was ultimately the difference between them potentially walking out with another victory and another heartbreaking loss

Espinoza scores gamer and Yarbrough makes five saves in Quakes 3-2 win over Rapids

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The San Jose Earthquakes celebrate victory over the Colorado Rapids at Dicks Sporting News Park in Commerce City Col on Sat May 11, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes X photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes looked to continue their recent strong run of form against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado for some rainy night soccer. San Jose defeated LAFC in their most recent league game at Levi’s Park and drew the game before that against Nashville. The Quakes remain undefeated through three games with a 3-2 win over the Rapids on Saturday night.

Add in an additional victory against the Oakland Roots in the US Open Cup, and the Earthquakes have been playing much better recently than they did to start the season. Meanwhile, Colorado finds themselves fifth in the Western Conference entering the night.

If San Jose wanted to walk away with a point, or three, they were going to have to overcome a major obstacle. Hernan Lopez, great nephew of Diego Maradona, was making his first start in the MLS.

San Jose Starting XI:Yarbrough, Costa, Wilson, Rodrigues, Akapo, Tsakiris, Gruezo, Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza, Ebobisse

Colorado Starting XI: Steffen, Rosenberry, Bombito, Maxso, Vines, Bassett, Larraz, Fernandez, Mihailovic, Cabral, Navarro

Colorado got out to a very early lead, or so they thought in the seventh minute, but the play was called offside. In the 10th minute, Yarbrough was forced to make a goalline save as the Rapids once again nearly made it 1-0 but failed to convert following a cross.

Colorado could’ve easily had a 2-0 lead just ten minutes in, but the Quakes had been able to keep it 0-0 for the time being. The first yellow card of the night was handed out to Djordje Mihailovic who elbowed Vitor Costa while attempting a challenge for the ball.

In the 26th minute, once again Colorado seemingly took the lead when Omir Fernandez got the ball past William Yarbrough with a great finish. However, the goal would be overturned because Kevin Cabral was offside and interfered with Carlos Akapo, preventing him from making a defensive play on the ball.

As a result, Colorado had their second goal of the half overturned and the game remained in a deadlock. That wouldn’t remain the case for long though, as in the 33rd minute Rafael Navarro would score off of a deflection following a corner kick to give the Rapids a 1-0 lead. Fernandez did get his goal later in the half as well, in the 42nd minute a shot outside of the box slid past Yarbrough and made it 2-0 for the home team.

A few minutes later, Amahl Pellegrino scored after a scramble in front of the net. Steffen made a save for the Rapids, Jeremy Ebobisse’s shot off of the rebound was deflected by a defender in front directly to Pellegrino who put it away to make it 2-1.

It’s worth noting, the play was started by a fantastic pass by Lopez who was playing very well in his first MLS start. Colorado had a third goal called off due to offsides during the 49th minute when a header found the back of the netting.

Lopez tied it up with his first career MLS goal off of a corner when the ball was deflected and he volleyed it past Zach Steffen to make it 2-2 before halftime. It was a wild first half, with quite a bit of offense and certainly, there will be some controversy about the amount of overturned calls but after the first 45 minutes, it was a brand new game.

In the 56th minute, Yarbrough had a collision with his teammate, Carlos Gruezo that brought some concern from the official and medical staff but he remained in the game. Cristian Espinoza would break the tie in the 66th minute after a nice passing play which left him with only the keeper to beat and it was three unanswered goals for the Earthquakes, who now led 3-2 with less than a half-hour remaining.

At one point, it seemed as if Colorado was going to easily walk away with the win but in less than 30 minutes of game time, San Jose went from down 2-0 to up 3-2, shocking the home crowd. Shortly after the goal, the Quakes got two quick yellow cards. As a result, they needed to be very careful and ensure that they didn’t have a defender get booked for a second time.

Despite quite a few opportunities for Colorado to tie it up, they would be unable to and the Earthquakes would walk away with a win moving them out of last place in the Western Conference, passing both the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers who will play one another tomorrow afternoon.

Nashville-San Jose end up in a draw 1-1 at Music City

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San Jose Earthquakes defender Carlos Akapo (29) kicks the ball past Nashville SC midfielder Jacob Shaffelburg during the first half at Geodis Park in Nashville on Sat April 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes are in Tennessee to take on Nashville SC for their fourth matchup against each other in history. The previous three meetings had all ended in a draw, the Earthquakes desperately needed a win as did Nashville.

Both sat 14th in their respective conference entering the night, San Jose at the bottom of the West while Nashville was ahead of only the New England Revolution in the East. Nashville entered the night with a defensively minded 5-3-2 formation while the Quakes stuck with their standard 4-3-3. The Quakes came back after Nashville took a 1-0 lead to tie up the game 1-1 for the draw at Geodis Park in Nashville.

Nashville Starting XI: Willis, Muvi, Maher, Kallman, Lovitz, Shaffelburg, Yearwood, Godov, Davis, Mukhtar, Surridge

San Jose Starting XI: Yarbrough, Costa, Bradon, Rodrigues, Akapo, Tsakiris, Gruezo, Yueill, Kikanovic, Ebobisse, Espinoza

Earlier this week, the Earthquakes announced their record signing of midfielder Hernan Lopez from Godoy Cruz of the Argentine Primera Division. Although he has yet to join the team he will certainly be a difference maker when he gets into the lineup in the near future.

The first opportunity of the game came in the fourth minute when a throw-in got Cristian Espinoza behind the defense, he passed it to Niko Tsakiris who ran out of time and was unable to convert on the opportunity. The first booking of the night came at the end of the fifth minute when Daniel Lovitz’s challenge didn’t go as planned and he ended up with a yellow card.

Tsakiris would get a yellow in the 14th minute as he cut across into the box with the ball and put himself in a dangerous situation to try to get a penalty called. Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when Hany Mukhtar fired a shot from well outside the box and it found the left side of the netting. As they had multiple times this season, San Jose dug themselves a hole that they had to try to climb out of early on.

By the 27th minute, the game had been all Nashville, they led in shots 8-1 and on the scoreboard 1-0 despite the Earthquakes having 58% possession to that point. Nashville would maintain their lead for the remainder of the first half but were unable to build on it.

The Earthquakes would need a much stronger showing in the second half if they hoped to walk away with any points. At this point, they still had yet to record a shot on target. Other than the single goal, it was a pretty uneventful half as neither team was able to create high-quality scoring chances despite Nashville getting an abundance of shots.

Luchi Gonzalez made a couple of substitutions to start the second half with hopes that they’d provide a spark to a team that desperately needed it. Skahan and Pellegrino came on for Tsakiris and Benjamin Kikanovic. The Earthquakes got their first quality scoring opportunity of the night in the 53rd minute when Jeremy Ebobisse kicked the ball wide-left.

If he had aimed the shot on target, it could’ve easily tied the game at 1 but instead, it was still in favor of Nashville. An hour into the match, the Quakes still hadn’t tested Nashville’s keeper Joe Willis. In the 62nd minute, Nashville got a chance to make it 2-0 but William Yarbrough was able to make the save to deny a header from Sam Surridge from point-blank range.

The Earthquakes went straight down the pitch to score their first of the night, as a perfectly timed run by Jack Skahan got him behind the defense while remaining onside. The only person he had to beat was Willis, and he did just that to make it 1-1. Ebobisse was then subbed off for Preston Judd as Gonzalez hoped to keep the offensive momentum running. In the 66th minute, Brent Kallman received some medical attention.

At the end of the 71st minute, the Earthquakes nearly made it 2-1 however Skahan’s shot went just wide. Nashville made a few substitutions of their own, trying to swing momentum back in their favor as time started to run out. Rodrigues went down and caused a short delay with less than ten minutes remaining, he’d be substituted off as the Quakes could not afford to take any chances.

Nashville brought pressure and tested Yarbrough at the beginning of stoppage time getting a couple of solid opportunities before the ball was knocked out of play. Neither team would be able to break the deadlock, it would end in a 1-1 draw which was a decent result for two struggling teams however either one could’ve won. Nashville would certainly feel disappointed with the result given how strong they were in attack though.

Quakes edged by Galaxy 4-3 at Dignity Health Sports Park

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The score says it all the La Galaxy just gets by the San Jose Earthquakes at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson CA on Sun Apr 21, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes X photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes found themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference with just three points through their first eight games as they entered Match Day 10 and visited the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California for the 100th California Clasico.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy were second in the conference behind only the Vancouver Whitecaps entering the night and hoped to regain first place in the West. They have struggled at home so far this season though, as they were 1-0-2 in their first three home games. The Galaxy came away with a close 4-3 victory over the Earthquakes.

Earthquakes Starting XI: Yarbrough, Costa, Rodrigues, Beason, Akapo, Tsakiris, Gruezo, Yueill, Pellegrino, Judd, Espinoza

Galaxy Starting XI: McCarthy, Cerillo, Yoshida, Caceres, Aude, Puig, Brugman, Delgado, Pec, Joveljic, Paintsil

In the 7th minute, the Galaxy got the first booking of the night when Joseph Paintsil was shown a yellow card for a foul on Vitor Costa. After the foul, referee Rosendo Mendoza was clearly not pleased with the foul and was fairly animated during his conversation with the group of Galaxy players talking to him.

In the 10th minute, the Galaxy got their first quality scoring chance of the game when they methodically passed the ball around before the ball was eventually headed to Gabriel Pec who shot it just over the net.

In the 14th minute, Pec scored his second of the season when William Yarbrough came out of the net to attempt to prevent him from getting a shot off, but the ball bounced over the Earthquakes’ goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

As a result, the Galaxy had a 1-0 lead early in the match. In the 21st minute, Mendoza initiated a video assistant referee review for a handball inside the penalty area against the Earthquakes. After the review, a penalty was awarded to the Galaxy due to Niko Tsakiris’s elbow making contact with the ball as part of the Galaxy’s set piece.

Paintsil shot the ball toward the bottom right of the net, while Yarbrough stayed in the middle and it was 2-0 in favor of Los Angeles. Halfway through the first half, things looked bleak for the Earthquakes already. It didn’t take long for things to get even worse though, in the 30th minute Painstil took a corner kick and crossed it directly to the head of Maya Yoshida who increased LA’s lead to 3-0.

The Quakes would get themselves back into the game as Cristian Espinoza whipped it in on a free kick. After hitting a defender’s head, it bounced to Rodrigues who headed it into the netting and made it 3-1 in the 32nd minute. In the 45th minute, Espinoza was called for a foul and shown a yellow card, San Jose’s first of the game. At halftime, LA led 3-1 over the Earthquakes and San Jose had a lot of work to do if they wanted to have a chance to walk away with a point.

Preston Judd wouldn’t come out for the second half, as Jeremy Ebobisse was substituted on in his place. A shot from Dejan Joveljic got past Yarbrough in the 51st minute, but a defender was able to get back and clear the ball before it crossed the goal line and prevented the Galaxy from taking a 4-1 lead.

In the 55th minute, Carlos Gruezo became the second member of the Earthquakes to be booked during the game following a challenge on Riqui Puig. Shortly afterward, a breakout pass from their defensive third gave the Galaxy a strong attacking opportunity and Puig scored to make it 4-1in favor of LA.

In response Luchi Gonzalez made his second substitutions of the night, bringing Jack Skahan and Benjamin Kikanovic on for Amahl Pellegrino and Tsakiris.

Just a minute later Kikanovic, who had just been substituted into the match, gave the team a spark with a header goal to reduce the Galaxy’s lead to 4-2 with just over 30 minutes remaining. A pointless slide tackle by Vitor Costa resulted in the Quakes’ third yellow card of the night in the 64th minute.

This led to a couple of substitutions for the Galaxy who took a more defensive, counter-attacking approach. In the 69th minute, things changed drastically. Ebobisse got in past the defense, and Eriq Zavaleta attempted to challenge him from behind.

After tripping Ebobisse up, Zavaletta was shown a straight red card and San Jose was awarded a penalty shot. Not only did the Earthquakes have an opportunity to make it a single-goal deficit, they were going to have a man advantage for the remainder of the game.

Ebobisse was awarded for his effort and took the penalty himself which he scored to make it a 4-3 game. In the 76th minute, Skahan was booked with a yellow card after accidentally catching Yoshida in the face with his boot while attempting to play the ball.

In the 81st minute, John McCarthy made an incredible save to deny Kikanovic who nearly scored to tie the game up. In the 88th minute, the Galaxy launched a counter-attacking opportunity but it was called offside as the attacker passed it too late otherwise, it could’ve easily become a 5-3 game.

With eight minutes of stoppage time, the Earthquakes had quite a bit of time to tie things up. A shot from Tanner Beason in the 92nd minute was one of their best scoring opportunities however it deflected off of a defender’s head in front of the goal. Despite applying a considerable amount of pressure on the Galaxy, the Earthquakes wouldn’t be able to tie it up and San Jose walked away without a point after a 4-3 loss.

Austin FC takes control of game late, edge Quakes 4-3 in Austin

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San Jose Earthquakes defender Chris Akapo (29) battles the Austin FC at Q2 Stadium in Austin on Sat Apr 6, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes photo)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes finished their Texas road trip in Austin at the Q2 Stadium as they took on Austin FC. The season has been rough for the Earthquakes so far, with their only win of the season coming against the Seattle Sounders in March. They hoped to get a second against a team they’ve historically done well against, as the Quakes were 2-0-5 all-time against Austin entering the night. 

Earthquakes Starting XI: Yarbrough, Maries, Rodrigues, Wilson, Akapo, Morales, Gruezo, Tsakiris, Espinoza, Kikanovic, Ebobisse

Austin Starting XI: Stuver, Gallagher, Cascante, Hines-Ike, Jimenez, Ring, Pereira, Wolff, Driussi, Obrian, Rubio

Austin got off to a hot start, earning a couple of corners in the opening minutes of the match and putting pressure on William Yarbrough. The best early chance was a header from Sebastian Driussi which Yarbrough was able to save.

Early on, the momentum was strongly in Austin FC’s favor. In the eleventh minute, Tanner Beason was shown a yellow card for a hard foul on Jader Obrian, the game’s first booking. The first 15 minutes were pretty physical with fouls from both teams.

Eventually, San Jose would open the scoring when Cristian Espinoza crossed the ball from the right side of the box to Paul Marie who headed it home to give the Earthquakes a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute. 

After the goal, the Quakes kept bringing a heavy attack for a couple of minutes before things evened out once again. Austin’s Jon Gallagher fouled Carlos Akapo in the 29th minute and was shown a yellow card for the foul.

Austin seemingly scored an equalizer in the 36th minute after a short review, it was called off as the goal was directly scored as the result of a foul. Marie was awarded a free kick due to the foul by Hector Jimenez, and the Earthquakes regained possession.

Austin ended the first half with a strong attack for the majority of the last five minutes, however in the 40th minute both Marie and Obrian were given yellow cards for unsportsmanlike conduct. The first half would end with a 1-0 lead for the Earthquakes, but they were certainly going to have a difficult second half ahead of them. 

The second half was more of the same. The first ten minutes were all Austin FC, they were getting chance after chance but were still unable to get on the scoreboard. Yarbrough picked up a foul in the 56th minute, which ultimately led to a goal in the 58th minute.

Niko Tsakiris carried the ball into the offensive third of the pitch, before passing it off to Jeremy Ebobisse who was side by side with a defender but he was able to get a shot off, which was saved by Brad Stuver but Ebobisse was able to put the rebound in the back of the net and the Quakes had a 2-0 lead.

Just a minute later, Austin’s Diego Rubio was fouled inside the penalty area and Austin was awarded a penalty that could bring them back into the game. Driussi would take the shot and scored to make it 2-1 in favor of the Earthquakes.

In the 63rd minute, Austin had a throw-in which went into the abundance of players in front of San Jose’s net. It bounced off the head of a couple of Earthquakes before falling to Obrian who tied the game at 2 for Austin. Roughly four minutes later, Austin scored once again to make it 3-2.

Guilherme Biro, who came in as a substitute earlier in the half, shot it from the edge of the penalty area and it beat Yarbrough who was unable to stretch far enough to make the save. In roughly ten minutes, it went from a 2-0 Earthquakes lead to them being down 3-2 and having to dig themselves out of a hole.

A fantastic pass from Espinoza found Amahl Pellegrino all alone in front of the net, and he was able to tie the game back up for the Earthquakes in the 74th minute. Stuver kept getting tested over the next couple of minutes.

It seemed headed to a 3-3 draw, but in the final minute of stoppage time, Austin was able to score a go-ahead goal and take a 4-3 lead. The Earthquakes once again suffered a heartbreaking loss, which has become the theme of their season so far.