Category: San Jose Earthquakes

Vako’s brace helps the Earthquakes top FC Dallas 3-1

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By: Pearl Allison Lo

The cellar-dweller San Jose Earthquakes and first-place FC Dallas temporarily switched places in the Western Conference at the Toyota Stadium Saturday night.

Vako scored twice for the first time in his MLS career. FC Dallas, third in the league, suffered their first home loss this season. It was also their first home loss at Toyota Stadium in 18 games.

The Quakes scored in the 19th, 47th and 88th minutes and finally snapped a 12-game winless streak. It was a triumphant win for the cellar-dwellers.

Dallas and San Jose goalies Jesse Gonzalez and Andrew Tarbell were each forced to make five saves. Maximiliano Urruti and Vako had career-highs in shots, eight and nine, respectively.

Shea Salinas put a good ball ahead from midfield to set up Vako. Vako avoided Gonzalez, who slid outside the corner of his box, juked another defender along the goal line and kicked the ball past two more defenders to take the 1-0 lead.

FC Dallas tied it 1-1 a short while later in the 23rd minute. Reggie Cannon secured the ball and connected with Michael Barrios in the box. As Barrios shot, Roland Lamah put the ball into the net from Tarbell’s other side.  

Jahmir Hyka took an arced ball into the box from Anibal Godoy and scored with a kick in front of the defender.    

FC Dallas was not without their chances though. The following were just a few of them.

Tarbell showed skill in the 53rd minute, stopping two close saves in one second against Tesho Akindele and Barrios, the latter coming when Tarbell was down.

In the 63th minute, Tarbell was able to stop Barrios again. This led to a corner, which Urruti used to hit the crossbar.

The final goal came when Wondolowski was parallel to the goal line and passed to Vako, who converted. Wondo made his way past three defenders en route to the net.

Up Next: The Quakes will take on the Colorado Rapids next Saturday at 6 pm PDT at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Latest news on the Black and Blue

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the SJ Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. Before we get to your thoughts on the San Jose Earthquakes vs. Real Salt Lake match at Avaya Stadium last Saturday, let’s talk about the Quakes’ recent trade of Fatai Alashe to FC Cincinnati.

2. Now, let’s talk about the Quakes vs. Real Salt Lake match and how the Quakes should prepare to host FC Dallas, who’s first-place in the Western Conference, this coming Saturday.

3. Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski held a meet and greet with fans at the SoccerKraze in Campbell Monday.

4. For those of you who want a Quakes player to attend your next training session, you can enter the TeamSnap Celebrity Coach contest.

5. The news broke on Tuesday that Quakes’ rookie Gilbert Fuentes was called to the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team for a pair of matches against Mexico and Costa Rica during an 11-day international training camp from August 2 to 13.

Catch Ana on the SJ Earthquakes podcast each week at SportsRadioService.com!

Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake battle to scoreless draw

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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.

Earthquakes fall to Sounders 1-0 as San Jose’s winless streak reaches 11

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The Seattle Sounders (6-9-5) picked up an important three points to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, thanks to a birthday gift from one of their new forwards. Raul Riadiaz scored in his first MLS start to help the Sounders shutout the San Jose Earthquakes (2-12-6) 1-0 at Avaya Stadium on Wednesday night.

With the latest loss, San Jose is now on a season-long 11-game winless streak (13 overall if you count the U.S. Open Cup loss against Portland and the Manchester United match), which includes three consecutive shutouts. Seattle is currently on a five-game unbeaten streak.

The Sounders received the lone and game-winning goal in the 62nd minute when off a turnover at midfield, Cristian Roldan center a pass over to Rual Ruidiaz, who turned 28-years-old today, who gathered the ball and fired a shot past Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell into the lower left corner of the goal for the first MLS career goal of the Peruvian striker.

The first half possession of the ball was merely even with Seattle holding a slight edge of  51%-48% over San Jose. Both teams had scoring chances, but could not find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes. San Jose fired off seven shots (with two on target) while Seattle had five shots (with one on target).

Guram Kashia, making his MLS debut with the Quakes, fired off a header from a Nick Lima centering pass that was stopped by Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the 16th minute. He also had another header attempt just sail over the cross-bar in the 70th minute.

“He hadn’t played for a couple of months actually,” said Quakes head coach Mikael Stahre regarding Kashia’s debut. “He gave quite a solid performance and was one of the best players on the Earthquakes this evening.”

Luis Felipe Fernandez, also making his MLS debut with the Quakes, was issued a yellow card from referee Kevin Stott 38th minute for a sliding tackle.

“I don’t understand why I got carded,” said Fernandez regarding the call. “We both slid for the ball, I got the yellow card and he didn’t.”

Best chance for the Quakes came in the 80th minute. Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski shot from the left corner of the goal six yards out that just sailed wide of the net after taking a nice pass from Quincy Amarikwa, who came in as a substitute in the 69th minute for Danny Hoesen.

“We have to be ruthless and lethal when we’re in that final third (of the pitch) and we’re nowhere near that,” said Wondolowski. “We have guys we let them turn in the midfield and run right through us. Poor turnovers, these mistakes are the difference (in the game).”

Stahre called it a slow game between both teams and believed it was more of a 0-0 game from his perspective.

“In general the game was with out energy, I think it was quite a slow game,” said Starhe. “Both teams possessed the ball in a good way but there was hardly any high pressing. There were very few good chances.”

GAME NOTES: Quakes defender Anibal Godoy was suspended for the match due to receiving his second yellow card last week against Montreal.

Will Bruin substituted for Ruidiaz in the 66th minute.  This was Ruidiaz’s second game back from playing on the Peruvian World Cup team. Not a bad gift to give oneself scoring a goal on his 28th birthday.

Wondolowski is currently the all-time leading scorer against Seattle with 11 goals.

San Jose is now 10-9-5 versus Seattle and 5-2-4 at home.

Attendance for the match was 16,478.

UP NEXT: The Quakes host Real Salt Lake on Saturday, July 28 at 7:30 pm PDT at Avaya Stadium.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Pretty much a Manchester United special edition today

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Photo credit: theguardian.com

On the SJ Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. This Sunday’s friendly between the San Jose Earthquakes and Manchester United ended up in a scoreless draw. Give us a quick recap of the friendly.

2. After the friendly, Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski and Manchester United star Juan Mata Garcia swapped jerseys in one of the most epic postgame jersey swaps ever.

3. Quakes COO Jared Shawlee asked a question on the Quakes’ Twitter to see what bonus games the fans wanted to see next.

4. TeamSnap is offering Quakes fans a chance to have a Quakes player at their upcoming practice. What’s this all about?

5. For those of you who like to eat at Erik’s Deli Cafe, you don’t want to miss out on their current sweepstakes, where you can enter to win a chance to sit in on a Quakes practice with your soccer team and enjoy a catered meal on their behalf.

Ana does the SJ Earthquakes podcast each week for sportsradioservice.com

Earthquakes battle Manchester United to a 0-0 draw in friendly

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

By Marko Ukalovic

SANTA CLARA — Manchester United’s second stop of their exhibition tour made its way to Santa Clara. Unfortunately for their fans in attendance, they were without some of their superstars, still coming back from the World Cup, and it showed in a lackluster 0-0 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes on a warm Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium.

Manchester United was without the services of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Young. However, they still had Alexis Sanchez, Anders Pereria and Anthony Marital in their starting lineup against the Quakes.

Manchester United looked like they were going to take control of the game early on when Eric Bailey’s header in the fourth minute hit the cross-bar. They also had chances from Martial in the 23rd minute, and just a minute later, Luke Shaw’s one-timer sailed just over the top of the net.

“I was more focused on us”, said Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho when asked what he thought about playing against San Jose. “I think it’s nice for them to play a team like Manchester United. I thank them for that, it was (a) competitive (game).”

The first yellow card of the match went to the Quakes’ Florian Jungwirth, who performed a WWE style clothesline on Sanchez in the 17th minute. Sanchez used to speed to start a counter attack when Jungwirth made sure it didn’t go any further than midfield.

Quakes head coach Mikeal Stahre started the majority of his bench in the first half with Danny Hoesen, Jungwith and Guram Kashia, the Georgian center back, who made his Quakes debut since being acquired by the team last month with the targeted allocation money, as the only regular starters in the lineup to start the game.

Like most friendlies, the second half featured a different lineup substituted in for both teams and that seemed to open the game.

Ander Herrera was in all alone after a nice give-and-go, but his shot was stopped by Quakes goalie Matt Bersano, who came on in the second half replacing JT Marcinkowski, who started the game and made his debut appearance for San Jose.

The best chances for the Quakes came in the 70th and 71st minute of the match. Tommy Thompson sent in a shot that Manchester United goalkeeper Lee Grant had to jump high in the air to knock it over the net. A minute later after a corner kick, Vako’s shot attempt sailed over the cross-bar.

“For us it was really important to stay really sharp in this and not get smashed,” said Stahre. “Also to create some chances and we did that. I’m a quite a happy coach right now.”

The last chance for the Quakes came off a Yeferson Qunitana header off a corner kick at the 80th minute that deflected off the cross-bar.

GAME NOTES: Two 16-year olds made their debuts for San Jose late in the match. Gilbert Fuentes came into the match at the 86th minute and Jacob Akanyirige came in the 89 minute, respectively.

This was the second meeting between the two clubs. Manchester United defeated the Quakes 3-1 in the International Champions Cup back on July 21, 2015, at Avaya Stadium.

Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia suffered an injury in the first half and was replaced by Matteo Darmain.

The announced attendance was 32,549. There was an estimated 20 to 25 thousand in the actual stands with the majority of them cheering on the Red Devils.

San Jose defender Kevin Partida underwent ACL reconstruction surgery and a partial meniscectomy on his right knee on Thursday after suffering an injury in the July 7 match against the Portland Timbers. He is out for the rest of the season and is expected to be sidelined for nine months.

UP NEXT: The Quakes return to MLS action when they host the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, July 25, at Avaya Stadium at 7:30 pm PDT.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: Latest news on the Black and Blue

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the SJ Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. The San Jose Earthquakes got shutout 2-0 by the Montreal Impact in Montreal this past Saturday. There were a lot of views ranging from fire coach Mikael Stahre to let captain Chris Wondolowski go. What’s your take on the hapless Quakes?

2. France beat Croatia 4-2 in the final of the FIFA World Cup 2018. Just how happy were the French men and women on this special day after Bastille Day in France?

3. In the past month, a whopping 40,000 people attended the World Cup viewing parties at Avaya Stadium. How does it feel to know that the South Bay has been coming together?

4. 16-year-old Homegrown players Gilbert Fuentes and Jacob Akanyirige made their professional debuts for Reno 1868 FC this past Saturday. Tell us more about these two guys.

5. Center-back Guram Kashia touched down in San Jose Sunday night in an attempt to help the Quakes. Do you think anything good is going to come out of this?

6. The Quakes host the Seattle Sounders Wed Jul 25th at 7:30 pm PDT. What are your three keys to the match?

7.  The Quakes continue their homestand this Sat Jul 28th at 7:30 pm PDT against Real Salt Lake. What does San Jose need to do to avoid another draw with RSL?

Catch Ana on the weekly SJ Earthquakes podcast at sportsradioservice.com

Piatti helps lift Impact over Earthquakes 2-0

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Photo credit: @philthisisphil

By Pearl Allison Lo

Ignacio Piatti helped the Montreal Impact get back to its winning ways, especially at home with their 2-0 shutout of the San Jose Earthquakes at Saputo Stadium on Saturday night. 

After the Impact went scoreless last game, they have now blanked their opponents in five of their last eight games. At home, Montreal has won five straight games.

Piatti, who led all with a season-tying six shots, was also on a four-game point streak before their last loss.

Matteo Mancosu and Alejandro Silva returned to the Impact’s starting XI. Silva earned an assist and Mancosu had three shots.

The Quakes were left with a now 10-game season winless streak and one road win on the season as they remained winless in Montreal. Though they could not get get past goalie Evan Bush, the last time San Jose was held scoreless was May 25. That was also the last time Quakes’ goalie Andrew Tarbell did not record any saves.

Vako had a team-high four shots for San Jose.

Quakes’ Nick Lima’s shot was blocked in the 3rd minute.

In the eighth minute, Saphir Taider helped Montreal score on their first shot of the game after an assist from Piatti.

Anibal Godoy received a yellow card in the 26th minute for a foul versus Piatti, so Godoy will miss next game due to accumulation.  

Quakes’ Jackson Yueill missed two shots from outside the box in the 30th and 41st minutes.

Godoy also left in the 41st minute, straight to the locker room, for Fatai Alashe.

Quakes’ Florian Jungwirth’s missed shot in the 44th minute, was sandwiched by two attempts from Jahmir Hyka in the 43rd and 44th minute that were saved by Bush, the 43rd the best attempt by San Jose.  

Possession in the first half was almost even between the two teams, with San Jose edging out the Impact 50.1% to 49.9%.

Alashe was replaced at half time by Jimmy Ockford after what looked to be disagreement with coach Mikael Stahre. Later, the reason for the subbing decision was reported as a groin strain.

Montreal made an injury substitution in the 63rd minute, Michael Petrasso for Chris Duvall.

Piatti doubled the Impact’s lead when he scored almost straightaway from outside the box in the 74th minute. Silva gave him the assist.

Up Next: After a break and hosting Manchester United July 22 at 2 pm PDT, the Quakes next host two games at Avaya Stadium within a week of each other, first up the Seattle Sounders Wednesday, July 25 at 7:30 pm PDT.

San Jose Earthquakes podcast with Ana Kieu: All the latest news on the Black and Blue

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Photo credit: @SJEarthquakes

On the SJ Earthquakes podcast with Ana:

1. What are your three takeaways from the Quakes vs.  Portland Timbers match at Providence Park last Saturday?

2. How’s everything going at the FIFA World Cup viewing parties at Avaya Stadium?

3. It’s cool seeing Quakes fans representing their home team at the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

4. Talk about Quakes captain Chris Wondolowski in greater detail.

5. Just wondering, which three players have stood out to you the most during the FIFA World Cup?

6. What are your three keys to the Quakes’ upcoming road match against the Montreal Impact at Saputo Stadium?

Catch Ana on the weekly SJ Earthquakes podcast at sportsradioservice.com

 

Armenteros scores two; Timbers beat Earthquakes 2-1

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Photo credit: @OregonianSports

By Pearl Allison Lo

The unbeaten and winless streaks continued for the Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquakes Saturday as Portland won 2-1 at Providence Park on Saturday night.

It was not that clear cut though with the Quakes making it close at the end of the game.

The Timbers’ unbeaten streak amped up to 11 and San Jose’s winless streak extended to nine. The Quakes have still yet to win in Portland.

As San Jose started the second half with a test against the toughest team in MLS, it was a downhill first half that though they did not materialize, ended with some positive notes.

In his first outing since he returned from playing for Panama in the World Cup, Harold Cummings picked up a yellow in under a minute.

Vako got the Quakes’ first shot in the 11th minute.

However, Vako also initiated a turnover which led to Samuel Armenteros’ goal in the 14th minute. Armenteros had a season-high eight shots and tied a season-high with his two goals.

San Jose was forced to make an early substitution when rookie Kevin Partida was taken out in favor of veteran Shea Salinas in the 23rd minute.

The next minute, Armenteros nearly had another goal at the near corner post, but goalie Andrew Tarbell was able to deflect the ball with his face.  

The Quakes’ next shot came from Wondolowski in the 29th minute.

Another unexpected substitution for the Quakes came when Danny Hoesen had to leave in favor of Quincy Amarikwa in the 33rd minute.

Armenteros had a more skillful attempt on net with a bicycle kick that went wide in the 44th minute.

San Jose had late pressure in stoppage time. After a handball by Anibal Godoy, who also returned from Panama World Cup action, Vako missed and the Timbers blocked two more attempts by Godoy and Vako. The intensity could be seen by Vako chewing on his shirt.

Armenteros finished the first half with five shots, Vako with three, and the Quakes only one shot on target.

Armenteros doubled his score in the game in the 53rd minute. It seemed like it was a mix of defenders trying to catch up with Armenteros, overrunning him and confusion including Tarbell in net.

San Jose kept with it though and Amarikwa’s persistence kept the ball on their side. As he passed to Florian Jungwirth, Jungwirth slid the ball in diagonally for an 87th minute goal.

With a hand to his mouth after, Salinas had a close attempt in the 92nd minute.

Tarbell also joined his teammates in front of net in their last second efforts to tie the game.  

Up Next: The Quakes will next head East to take on the Montreal Impact Saturday at 4:30 pm PDT.