Category: San Jose Earthquakes

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Angels set to turn things around in chase of A’s and first

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM–The Los Angeles Angels are playing great ball right now, their playing to win and the last few years the A’s have won the west. Everybody on the Angels is healthy, Albert Pujols, Mike Trout is back, Josh Hamilton and the Angels have a great line up.

I challenge anybody who knows baseball to compare the Angels position by position. The Angels are a better team than the A’s. The A’s at present are playing much better no doubt about that. Looking at the Angels you have Pujols at first, you have Howie Kendrick at second, Erick Aybar is a great shortstop with a gold glove.

The Angels have a great team with Hamilton, Trout, they have great pitching with Jerod Weaver and C.J. Wilson and on Monday night they had starter Garrett Richards who pitched a tremendous game. The Angels are going for it they have won four in a row beating Oakland for their fourth on Monday night.

NCAA players making move for pay: It’s very simple I got one opinion I don’t agree with it, I don’t think college athletes should be paid to play sports. You go to college for academics and if you excel in sports that’s great.

There are a small amount of players that become professionals, you have to work hard, you have to have some kind of God given talent. I don’t agree I don’t think the players in college should get paid. This country is huge and it’s the richest country on earth.

There are still plenty of opportunities, you got four terrific leagues here. you have the NFL, MLB, NHL and the NBA. There are so many outlets if your good at the sport. I don’t think we should be paying kids to be playing sports in college.

World Cup in Brazil: Brazil is a huge country territory wise and it’s larger than the United States and population wise it’s still a third world country and their still very poor. There is a lot of criticism about FIFA.

FIFA has been for three years loaded with corruption and scandals and they have a lot of beautiful stadiums in Brazil and the people there are kind of complaining about what is going to happen when World Cup ends?

They cannot eat those stadiums there, what are they going to do with those stadiums? There are still a lot of people there still suffering. The World Cup should help them though in their economy. Brazil still has a lot of problems, the Brazilians are so proud to have the World Cup.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for Angels baseball and does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Quakes’ first loss at BMO Field

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Photo credit: The Canadian Press

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes’ three-game win streak came to a halt as the Toronto FC Reds were victorious 1-0 Saturday.

Toronto FC’s Nick Hagglund did not show up on the score sheet, but had two looks on net in the 24th minute. In the 26th minute, after a corner, Hagglund, who was being guarded by Alan Gordon, was fouled in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Jermain Defoe slightly curved the ball to the left and scored to make it 1-0 in the 27th minute. It is the second penalty kick San Jose goalie Jon Busch has faced in as many games.

Hagglund also missed a header in the 29th minute and assisted on an attempt by Defoe in the same minute, that was blocked.

The Reds dominated the first half with shots on goal 4-0 and having an overall 11-1 shots margin.

Dominic Oduro made his debut for Toronto FC in the second half.

From the 74th to the 77th minutes, the Quakes had four different players attempt shots and had two corners.

The Reds’ Daniel Lovitz had to leave the game in the 79th minute due to an injury.

San Jose’s Tommy Thompson made his Major League Soccer debut in the 88th minute and is also the first homegrown player to play in a professional match .

The game ended in the 96th minute.

Game notes: Monday, the Quakes announced, that with both the team and the San Francisco 49ers getting new stadiums close by each other, they will be partnering to attract international soccer to the South Bay for the next five years. Thursday, San Jose announced they were expanding their youth development programs, creating Under-9 to Under-16 teams. The Quakes next play Sacramento Republic FC in the Open Cup Wednesday at 7:30p before the World Cup break. San Jose rounds out June with the California Clasico against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium, June 28 at 7:30p

Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi’s goal a beauty

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By Pearl Allison Lo

It was another close match between the San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas Saturday, but Pierazzi’s goal was the difference in another 2-1 game between the two Saturday.

In the 45th minute, Pierazzi took a pass from Khari Stephenson, touched the ball innocently it seemed at first, then kicked it past two defenders almost straightaway as it curved away from goalie Chris Seitz into the net from 35 yards out. It was Pierazzi’s first goal with the team and the team’s first road win of the season.

FC Dallas’s Blas Perez scored first in the 16th minute, as the ball bounced over Ty Harden and Jordan Stewart. Fabian Castillo then chased the ball down to kick it back the way it came, directly to Perez as Perez collided with Harden.

Adam Moffat received a yellow card for pulling the Quakes’ Yannick Djalo in the 23rd minute when Djalo had the ball.

Off a corner to San Jose’s Steven Lenhart who received it on his chest after a bounce, who then kicked it to Atiba Harris, Harris scored past a diving Seitz to equalize the score in the 27th minute. It was Harris’s second goal in as many games.

Things became more interesting when Moffat received his second yellow in the 38th minute, which would leave his team down in the second half this time. Moffat tackled Djalo who had the ball, causing Djalo to tumble and roll. Harris gave Moffat a good game handshake and patted his head. Moffat then turned the other way heading towards the referee, but Harris ran back to take him off the field.

With one minute stoppage time in the first half, Pierazzi’s goal was followed by a penalty kick on the other end after an inadvertent collision between Stewart and Castillo, as Castillo headed towards the goal.

Quakes’ goalie Jon Busch predicted Castillo’s second chance at net correctly, to preserve the lead and the game as he made his first penalty save out of three attempts now this year.

In the 74th minute, Djalo pulled up either due to a cramp or his hamstring, but had to stay in because coach Mark Watson had already made three substitutions. Thus, with limited play and the way FC Dallas played in the second half, one could argue that there was no man missing from the game.

In the 90th minute, the wall saved a free kick by FC Dallas’s Ryan Hollingshead right outside the penalty area.

Game notes: San Jose is now even in May play with a record of 33-33-18. They next play Toronto at 1pm June 7th for their only away game of the month.

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary:Taste of the World Cup served up at Candlestick Tuesday night

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The soccer fans came in droves and they were pumped up about World Soccer on Tuesday night at Candlesick Park as the U.S. Men’s team welcomed visiting Azerbaijan and this was an event that can facilitate 50-60,000 fans. This game was the first of three exhibition games before both teams take off to Brazil for the real deal next month at the World Cup.

This was special on the local angle as this is the last year before they blow up Candlestick Park and this tournament was something that the World Cup wanted to show case being at the Stick. This was an opportunity to say goodbye to the park with a big event.

The Brazil controversy: The citizens of Brazil or a great number of them have been protesting about the building of these new stadiums and villages in Rio that will accommodate the players, coaches, team personnel, media and the fans and after they leave these stadiums they will no longer be needed and be virtually a shell kind of like the Silver Dome in Pontiac.

What people forget that Brazil is larger than the United States territorial wise but it’s still a third world country. There’s a lot of poverty there, the Brazilian goverment has been criticized and FIFA will be selling tickets and concessions at top dollar and getting a hotel and dinning will be at top prices something the average citizen cannot afford and I read an article a couple weeks ago that the government of Brazil doesn’t know what is going to happen to those stadiums once the World Cup is done.

They are spending billions of dollars, it’s always controversial and most of those events make money and people seem to forget it’s a huge country and still it’s a third world country with profits going towards TV, FIFA and the hotels. It’s not a rich industrialized nation.

Media still talking about the A’s getting swept in Toronto: The Jays are very hot right now, they’re playing great ball especially at the Skydome and baseball is 162 games and you can have a team that can lose five, six or ten games in a row. Look what happened to the Boston Red Sox, they just ended a ten game losing streak it was the first team since the 1998 Miami Marlins to lose nine or more games in a row after winning the World Series.

So this happens to all of the teams and the A’s just ran into a very hot team like the Jays but look what happened they took the Detroit Tigers in the opening game of the homestand with a whopping 10-0 shutout laugher. One of the best teams in the American League and in first place in the A.L. Central. That’s baseball and the Tigers I think are the best team in the American League some other people might disagree and the A’s came back on Monday and scored ten runs.

Tuesday night the A’s are throwing Sonny Gray against the Tigers and Gray could be a future Cy Young winner against a guy who won the Cy Young last year the Tigers Max Scherzer. The Blue Jays they had something to prove when the A’s came to Toronto last week and thats what happened and then on Monday night everything went the A’s way. When your not playing well things go wrong the line drives over third base are foul, the potential doubles turn into long singles, and home runs hit the top of the wall or are grabbed just above the fence by the outfielder.

Baseball is a game of opportunities and when you grab that opportunity you keep winning and the Jays have a great line up with Melky Cabrera hitting .322, Edwin Encarnacion leading the Jays with 15 homers,Jaun Batista with 37 runs scored. My friend wrote about them and called them the Dominican Jays because they’ve filled that line up with six or seven Dominicans.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice of Oakland Athletics baseball and does News and Commentary weekly on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Earthquakes Explode for Three Goals in Dominant Win Over Houston

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By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–The San Jose Earthquakes earned their second consecutive home win on Sunday Night with an impressive three goal win over the Houston Dynamo.  The win for San Jose also marks the fifth straight time the home team takes away at least one point from Buck Shaw Stadium.

The Earthquakes were able to do it without star, Chris Wondolowski, who is on leave for the United States National Team, in which he was named to the World Cup team earlier this week.  “The guys are trying to fill the void of not having Wondo, and it clearly worked tonight,” said Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson.

Khari Stephenson lead the charge for the Quakes with two goals, his first two of the season.  The first came in the 37th minute after a miscue from the Dynamo lead to an indirect kick for San Jose.  After a tap of the ball from teammate, Shea Salinas,  Stephenson drilled it into the bottom left corner of the net to take the 1-0 lead.  It wouldn’t be until the Second Half until Stephenson scored his second goal.  Steven Lenhart created the opportunity by being a pest in the 18-yard box and drawing a foul.  Stephenson found the bottom left corner again on the penalty kick in the 58th minute.

Atiba Harris capped off the scoring with his first of the season that came off of a hustle play.  On a bouning ball to Houston Goalkeeper Tally Hall, Harris steeped up and applied pressure, beating the keeper to the ball with his head.  The ball took a home bounce of the post and found Harris for the tap in.

Houston forced Quakes Goalkeeper, Jon Busch, to come up huge to earn his clean sheet.  The Dynamo outshoot the Quakes 13-12 and 6-4 with shots on target.  Houston had their best chances come in the 30th and 33rd minutes, as Busch stopped three of the six on target in that span.  In the 30th minute, Warren Creavalle headed a cross inside the six-yard box forcing Busch to make the diving save to his right.  Only three minutes later, Houston found a header once again in the six-yard box off the head of Will Bruin.  Busch made the initial save, but the rebound found the foot of Bruin, where Busch somehow found a way to get in front of that shot as well.  “Those two stops kept us in the game,” added Watson.  Busch earns his fourth clean sheet of the season in the win.

San Jose earns three points in the win, however remains in sixth place in the Western Conference, only trailing the Colorado Rapids by two points.  The Quakes return to the pitch on Saturday, May 31 as they travel to take on FC Dallas.

Obafemi stuns Busch with rainbow shot

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Photo credit: @gcsounderfan

By Pearl Allison Lo

The San Jose Earthquakes vs Seattle Sounders game came down to one goal and it was one that even shocked the goalkeeper, as Seattle remained the top team in the league with the 1-0 win Saturday.

Using a forward pass from Gonzalo Pineda, Obafemi Martins, almost parallel to the goalline, arced his shot with his left foot so that it looked like a rainbow, and hit the net near the right post as Jon Busch’s bugged out in disbelief in the 8th minute.

It was similar to the teams’ last meeting in score but the Sounders won that game and the goal came near the end of the game.

The Quakes’ Shaun Francis, prevented another goal, when he got in front of Kenny Cooper, who was right in front of Busch in the 27th minute.

Busch got a shot at redemption in the 57th minute when this time, Martins was the one passing and Busch, extremely alert, blocked Lamar Neagle like a pinball machine.

Neagle was again denied in the 65th minute, and Busch blocked two more late shots in the 84th and 86th minutes

Game notes: San Jose was by far the team down more in terms of their usual players. Clarence Goodson, who celebrated his birthday May 17, and Chris Wondolowski, were called Monday to the U.S. World Cup camp. The Quakes were also without Victor Bernardez, who was called to the Honduran camp (also as a result of misconduct in the May 10th game, he was fined and suspended one game) and Shea Salinas, who was suspended one game. Alan Gordon and Steven Lenhart were out due to injury. The Sounders had three players called to the U.S. camp, DeAndre Yedlin, Brad Evans & Clint Dempsey. San Jose players wore black armbands during the game to support Jason Hernandez in memory of his father, who lost his battle with cancer May 16. The Quakes host Houston May 25 at 7:30pm for the next game.

 

Quakes “Survive the Storm” for Second Win of 2014

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By Matthew Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On a night when the San Jose Earthquakes turned back the clock, donning kits similar to their original NASL iterations in their first season in 1974, the best ally for the club to prove the victors turned out to be a forward ticking timer. The Earthquakes scored the first two goals then weathered an FC Dallas barrage to cling to a 2-1 lead and collect three points at Buck Shaw Stadium Saturday night.

“We survived the storm,” remarked defender Jordan Stewart.

Midfielder Cordell Cato connected on his first goal of the season for the Quakes (2-3-4) beating Dallas goalkeeper Raul Fernandez in the 25th minute. The Quakes were also beneficiaries of an opponent own goal. San Jose played down a man for more than half the game after officials sent Shea Salinas off with a red card in the 45th minute.

“That was quite a night,” said San Jose coach Mark Watson. “To use the old cliché, it was a tale of two halves. I thought in the first half we played well, got the goal and had a chance to make it two-nil. The second half was just about sticking together defending and seeing the game out.”

After receiving a perfect header from Clarence Goodson, Cato found himself on breakaway staring down only Dallas keeper Fernandez. Cato struck a low shot to the left passed Fernandez for a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute. San Jose netminder Jon Busch was awarded the second assist on the marker, his first career helper, after firing a pass up-field to Goodson.

“I saw a big body up there, I thought it was Alan (Gordon),” said Busch. “I saw a big body and I just said I’m just going to hit it down the middle to one of the big bodies and something good will happen. And something good did happen.”

San Jose honored former player, coach and general manager Johnny Moore by inducting him into the team’s Hall of Fame Saturday. It was a big night for the former wearer of number 8, but his present day counterpart nearly stole some of his thunder. On a Quakes free kick in the 73rd minute, Chris Wondolowski appeared to net the second goal of the game. The replay showed that, despite the perfect placement, Wondolowski’s left foot narrowly missed the ball. Instead, it was ruled a Dallas own goal off the boot of David Texeira for a Quakes 2-0 edge.

“To be honest, it was nice to get a bounce our way,” said Wondolowski of the own goal. “On Wednesday night (a 0-0 tie against Colorado at Buck Shaw) we didn’t get those bounces. We’ve been unlucky this season so it was nice to get a bounce.”

FC Dallas pressured San Jose throughout the night with forwards Fabian Castillo and Blas Perez combining on a number of Grade-A chances that Busch and company turned aside, including a chance in the 57th minute that crossed over the goal line but somehow managed to stay out.

“We do drills like that in training during the week,” said Busch. “You make the first save and get across the goal. I was fortunate enough that I got it quick enough and was able to make a play on the second shot that came off the post and came all the way across.”

Dallas finally broke through in the 76th minute after Michel beat Busch on a perfectly placed from just outside the penalty box. The Dallas midfielder tucked a perfect ball right into the top left corner for the sole visiting tally, his fifth of the season. Busch bounced back to hold the score and seal the win.

“I wish I could say I’m shocked,” said Wondolowski. “I see it every day. He does a great job. He’s a great goalie.”

Busch credited his teammates for playing strong in front of him.

“We needed this one badly,” said the keeper. “I can’t be prouder of the boys, they just battled through a lot of adversity. You take a red card just before halftime against a very good possession team, so you know you’re going to take wave after wave.”

With the Quakes already fighting an uphill battle, down a man with five other players booked for yellow cards, the deck appeared further stacked in Dallas’ favor when a generous six minutes of stoppage time were added at the end of play. The only major delay in the second half came when Alan Gordon went down in the 56th minute, but he quickly moved to the sideline along with the Earthquakes trainer before being subbed out in favor of J.J. Koval. Gordon told the media after the game that he doesn’t expect to miss any time and just suffered from dead legs Saturday night.

“I thought it was a long time,” said Watson. “The referee said the Alan Gordon injury was three minutes. There’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t change your mind, but I thought it was a little bit too much.”

Dallas took full advantage of the extra time, putting a salvo of shots on Busch to try to steal a point on the road. Despite a few close calls, the Quakes managed to pull out the victory for their second win this season, both coming at Buck Shaw Stadium.

“I think it shows the character this team has,” said Watson. “We’ve always had that. I thought tonight was a perfect example of that. Under extreme circumstances, all the things going on, we kept fighting and battling.”

The Quakes look to build off Saturday’s adversity laden win when they travel to Seattle to face the Sounders at the inhospitable CenturyLink Field next Saturday.

“Hopefully this gets us going,” said Busch. “We had a similar performance the other night, just couldn’t get the goal we needed. Tonight we got the two goals we needed. Hopefully we can take from this and move forward.”

The Quakes may soon be moving forward without the club’s all-time leading scorer. Chris Wondolowski may soon be joining the United States Men’s National Team for World Cup duty, including a May 27th tune-up at Candle Stick Park against Azerbaijan.

“We got a win, that was good.” Said Wondolowski. “If I am leaving, I wish I was leaving with us in first place. It is what it is. I know these guys are going to do a great job.”

Rapid’s Goal Keeper Irwin Heroic in 0-0 Draw

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Photo Credit: sjearthquakes.com
Photo Credit: sjearthquakes.com

By: Joe Lami

SANTA CLARA, Calif–For the second straight match between the Colorado Rapids and the San Jose Earthquakes it ends scoreless, as the April 20th match also ended in a 0-0 draw.

Chances were seen from both squads with 31 total shots taken.  The Rapids outshot the home side 16-15.  However, the Quakes had the upper hand in shots on target 7-4, forcing Colorado Goal Keeper Clint Irwin to play an outstanding game.

The Quakes had a couple of outstanding chances, the first one coming in the tenth minute when a cross sent into the box by Midfielder, Atiba Harris found Striker, Chris Wondolowski.  However, Wondolowski misplayed the ball, which prevented him from scoring his team leading sixth goal of the campaign.

Another chance came for San Jose in the 23rd minute off of a corner kick set up by Shea Salinas.  Salinas decided to play the corner short.  He ended up with the ball of the left side of the box then striking it right at Rapid’s Keeper, Irwin.  Irwin was able to come up with the easy save.

Quakes’ Defender, Andreas Gorlitz, was substituted at the 45th minute with a right knee injury after a risky challenge by Colorado Midfielder, Charles Eloundou.  The challenege handed Eloundou the first yellow card of the game. “It doesn’t look good, it could be the end of the season type of thing,” explained Earthquakes Head Coach, Mark Watson.  Wondolowski added “it makes stomachs turn seeing injuries like that happen.  It doesn’t matter which team the player was on.”

The Quakes came out firing in the second half as well, with good chances coming from Alan Gordon and Wondolowski in the first 15 minutes of the half.  San Jose’s best chance of the game came off of the boot of Harris as he struck one towards net.  The ball was sure to find the back of the net until Irwin made a sprawling save to his right to keep the game even keel.

It wouldn’t be Earthquakes soccer if they hadn’t tried to get one late to win the game, and it almost came to fruition when a ball of the foot of Wondolowski found the right post and kicked right and away from the goal.

An impressive performance from the Quakes ends in disappointment once again, as they are unable to get on the board to earn a much needed 3-point game.  “We faced a great goal keeper tonight and of course it’s frustrating when you can’t get one by him, but we have to keep plugging away and can’t get ourselves down,” commented Wondolowski.  “I believe we did well, we created a lot more chances, and it was a good stepping stone,” added Harris.

The Earthquakes don’t have much time to rest as they are back to action at Buck Shaw Stadium this Saturday hosting FC Dallas.

Whitecaps top Earthquakes

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Photograph by: Steve Bosch, PNG

By Pearl Allison Lo

Vancouver’s three goals in the first 20 minutes were able to top San Jose’s late comeback in a 3-2 decision Saturday, as the Whitecaps celebrated their 40th anniversary.

The game winner came off Pedro Morales’s first goal of the game and the Whitecaps’ penalty kick. It came in the 19th minute and was preceded by a Jordan Stewart giveaway, before the slight touch by Victor Bernardez against Darren Mattocks who had a breakaway.

Vancouver outshot the Quakes 17-7.

In the first half, the ‘Caps controlled the majority of the ball possession. The possession San Jose did have was usually intercepted, deflected, given away or more.

The game’s first goal was braced by San Jose’s Yannick Djalo going down twice on the turf. Already suffering from groin tightness, when he went down the first time, play continued.

Vancouver’s Kekuta Manneh ‘s initial shot went off the left post then came back to him. The rebound shot then went to the right post and into the net in the 10th minute.

Djalo’s second time down again forced coach Mark Watson to go early to his bench for Alan Gordon in the 13th minute. It was Djalo’s first start for the team.

Morales’s second goal came almost straightaway outside the box and just a minute after his first to make it 3-0, as he took off his shirt in celebration.

All of the Whitecaps’ goals came before the Quakes’ first shot.

In the 28th minute, Mattocks went down on his own as well with a hamstring injury. Erik Hurtado came in to replace him.

San Jose’s Sam Cronin was in net to prevent a fourth goal when Morales passed the ball to Manneh who passed the ball to Hurtado before his shot in the 34th minute.

In the 45th minute, the Quakes spoiled David Ousted’s clean sheet and got a goal back when Chris Wondolowski took the penalty kick. Alan Gordon had got knocked down by Jay DeMerit after Gordon headed the ball.

The Quakes prevented another fourth goal when the rookie Hurtado came attacking. Goalie Jon Busch went equally hard forward to challenge Hurtado and with the block, joined the 1,000 save club in the 59th minute.

The 3-2 score occurred in the 91st minute. Wondolowski scored his second goal of the game, fifth of the teams’ eight goals during the season and ninth in his career against Vancouver as the ball slid right past Ousted. Stoppage time ended in the 94th.

Game notes: It was the first meeting between Steven Beitashour and San Jose since they parted. Morales had to go off the field temporarily in the second half. Gordon got yellow carded in the 70th minute. The Quake’s Billy Schuler experienced his first action of the season when he subbed in for Brandon Barklage.

Small Package Delivers Huge First Win of 2014 for Earthquakes

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By Matthew Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The man who stands shortest on the Earthquakes squad elevated his game head and shoulders above his competition in San Jose’s first win of the 2014 season. Minute midfielder Yannick Djalo tallied his first MLS goal in a 1-0 triumph over visiting Chivas USA at Buck Shaw Stadium, providing a scoring spark in the 66th minute for the scuffling San Jose side after subbing in to open the second half. San Jose was booked for three yellow cards in a physical tilt, while the visitors were assessed two yellows and a red card, a booking on their goalkeeper for playing a ball outside of the penalty box.

The Quakes (1-2-3) opened play Saturday knotted with Montreal for the fewest points in the MLS standings, but Chivas proved just the opponent to help San Jose turn around its five-game winless streak in 2014. San Jose has not lost to Chivas in any of the encounters over the last two seasons.

The Rojiblancos (1-4-3) took their 2014 season opener 3-2 over visiting Chicago but failed to find the W in six consecutive games to sit just three points ahead of San Jose in the league table. With the win, the Earthquakes tied Chivas with six points earned on the campaign.

“You never want to wait too long for the first one,” said Earthquakes coach Mark Watson. “We’ve waited a little bit. It’s a relief. We still have work to do. It’s three points. We take it, we run with it and we get back to work on Monday.”

Djalo, an import on loan from Sport Lisbon e Benefica of Portugal’s Primeira Liga, received a Shea Salinas cross and tucked a bouncer just inside of the left post for a precision strike out of reach of diving Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy.

“It was a great team play,” said Djalo through an interpreter. “Salinas made a great pass over to me. I was happy to score the goal, but it was the high level of the team that got the goal. The ball made the goal. I just wanted to focus and put it into the corner.”

The winning volley marks the first career MLS goal for the five-foot-six veteran of 166 professional games, all abroad, in only his fourth game in the States.

“The teams are all competitive here,” said Djalo of the MLS. “That makes every game competitive. There’s a lot of hard work to be done. That makes me excited every game.”

For Djalo, the issue hasn’t been adjusting to the league as much as it has been overcoming injury, chiefly tightness in his right hamstring that has limited his availability in the early going. Watson utilized Djalo sparingly in his three previous MLS engagements, coming on in the 79th minute or later in two of three appearances. He entered the game at the half in March 13th’s loss to the Columbus Crew for his longest stint before tonight.

“Last week I wasn’t in the condition to play,” said Djalo. “I was a little sore still and couldn’t get through a game. Thanks to the work of the medical staff here, they did a great job with me all week. I was able to get on the field for 45 minutes. I hope that’s going to be a little bit more.”

“There was an argument to start him,” said Watson. “We felt with the way his hamstring has been the last couple of weeks, it wasn’t the prudent thing to do. He’s getting close. He’s a real dynamic player. He helps us when he’s on the pitch.”

For the second straight game, Quakes keeper Jon Busch collected the clean sheet, blanking the Rojiblancos one week after shutting out the Colorado Rapids in a scoreless draw on the road. Busch handled all three shots labelled for the San Jose net, while his defenders managed a pair of blocked shots and forced 10 Rojiblanco shots off target.

“We’ve got some tremendous defenders on this team,” said Busch. “It’s coming together very nicely defensively. I thought Victor (Bernardez) and Clarence (Goodson) did a beautiful job dealing with some very dangerous crosses. I was very happy with them in front of me. They were tremendous tonight.”

The Quake defense proved especially stout against Chivas striker Erick Torres. Torres took the pitch tied with Clint Dempsey for the MLS in goals atop the chase for the Golden Boot. Though Torres’ loaded foot had already found the back of the net six times previously this season, San Jose kept him off the sheet. Torres managed multiple chances on net by way of kick and header, but none found their mark thanks to his opposition’s containment.

“The defense played strong,” said Watson. “That’s one of the things we’ve been working on, being tougher to break down. Getting two shutouts in a row helps us confidence-wise. There are still little things we need to do.”

Proving defensively stout has been critical for the denizens of Buck Shaw Stadium as they slog through a scoring drought. San Jose owns only one game with more than one goal scored in their favor this season in six attempts. A handful of injuries to start the season have hampered San Jose’s offensive rhythm, especially at the midfield position, but the team appears close to being on the mend.

“We work every day on both sides of the ball,” said Watson. “I don’t think the team is where it needs to be. The group’s getting healthy, which helps. We get more time to work together as a group and we’ll continue to do that.”

Among the wounded rounding into form, Watson put heavy emphasis on what a hampered Djalo has brought, and what the expectations for him will be when he’s at full strength.

“Right from the start of the second half, he gave us that little spark,” said Watson. “The thing with him is, he’s got a good technical base. He can get out of pressure. He’s most dangerous when he can get space, when he runs. He made a great run to the far post and a great finish.

Despite a feeling around the team that the Portuguese player may be called upon to be San Jose’s next potent weapon, the smallish soccer star-in-waiting handles the weight with aplomb.

“Everyone feels the same pressure,” said Djalo. “You have to come into the game, do the best you can, contribute to the team and try to get wins. The pressure is the same for everybody. I play the game to help contribute to my teammates. They go through a lot of hard work every week, every game. I just want to help them succeed.”

Saturday’s score certainly made Djalo a popular man, both with the fans and his new teammates who now know what it feels like to have a mark under the win column in the league standings. The Earthquakes now carry a little less pressure heading into next week’s showdown in Vancouver against the Whitecaps no longer mired in last place in the Western Conference.

“We got the monkey off our back,” said Busch. “Hopefully we can relax and play our game.”