Tag: Chicago Fire

Kikanovic’s first ever brace the difference in Quakes 2-1 over Fire

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Cristian Espinoza (10) and Benji Kikanovic (28) celebrate Kikanovic’s first goal of the match at Pay Pal Park on Sun July 3rd, 2022. (Dario Cruz-Tectonic Takes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Benji Kikanovic rose up to the occasion for a struggling team.

Kikanovic, started at forward in place of Cade Cowell, who was out playing for the 20 and under US Men’s National Team, made the most of his start with two goals in the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose earned just its fourth win of the season and is unbeaten in two of its past three matches. Chicago have lost four of its past six matches.

Chicago (4-9-6) had two quality scoring chances in the first half but didn’t generate much offense otherwise. ‘Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowskin came out aggressively to stop Federico Navarro’s attempt in the 23rd minute.

Then in the 25th minute after a nice give and go from Xherdan Shaqiri to Chris Mueller, Marcinkowski made a diving save on Mueller’s shot.

San Jose (4-7-7) controlled the play in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Jeremy Ebobisse’s had the best scoring chance in the 32nd minute when his shot from 12 yards out was saved by Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina.

“The guys read the game very well, finding Benji [Kikanović], Jeremy [Ebobisse], and Cristian [Espinoza] behind and understanding that Chicago was going to press a high line and we knew that we had to get a few passes in and get into that space,” ‘Quakes head coach Alex Covelo said.

The Earthquakes broke the seal in the 47th minute. Benji Kikanovic cleaned up a Cristian Espinoza shot that hit off the left post as he tapped the ball into an open net. It finished off a wild sequence where San Jose hit the post twice and had one shot saved by Slonina before Kikanovic scored his first goal of the season.

“I think they did a good job of finding me in pockets,” Kikanovic said regarding his two goals. “I knew I was going to have space out wide and kind of do my thing. The first goal I was at the right place at right time to just tap it in.”

San Jose nearly doubled its lead in the 67th minute when Espinoza sent a cross into the middle of the box, but Slonina made a point blank save on Ebobisee’s one-timer.

Kikanovic iced the game for San Jose in the 87th minute with his second goal of the match. Jamiro Monteiro found Kikanovic along the right wing. The San Jose native striker deked out Carlos Teran before kissing a left-footed shot just inside the left post.

It was the first brace in a ‘Quakes uniform for Kikanovic.

Brian Gutierrez scored his first goal of the season in the last minute of stoppage time, but it was too little too late for Chicago.

Marcinkowski finished the match with five saves on six shots to earn the win. Slonina made six saves on eight shots he faced in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with two corner kicks. Chicago had three.

San Jose is now 13-16-11 all-time vs. Chicago Fire FC, including a 10-6-5 record at home.

This was the first meeting between the Fire and Earthquakes since a 2-0 San Jose win during MLS is Back in 2020. The ‘Quakes have lost only one of their last six home matches against the Fire dating back to 2011, winning four times and drawing once in that time.

The Earthquakes are unbeaten in eight straight home matches (W4 D4) after a 3-1 loss to the Red Bulls on the opening day of the season. San Jose has had just one longer single-season home unbeaten run in the last six seasons, going 12 in a row without defeat at home in 2019 (W10 D2).

The Fire have lost seven of their last right away matches, including the last four in a row. Chicago has won only two of its last 38 away matches against Western Conference foes (D9 L27) dating back to 2014.

Four different Earthquakes players have recorded at least four assists this season, led by Cristian Espinoza’s seven. No other MLS team has more players with at least four assists in 2022 (CF Montréal – also 4).

UP NEXT: San Jose travels to north of the border to take on Toronto FC on Saturday 7/9 at 4:30pm at BMO Field.

Wondo rewrites the history book in Earthquakes’ 4-1 win over Fire

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by Marko Ukalovic

San Jose, Calif- Move over Landon Donovan! The Wondo Watch is finally over thanks to a career game from captain Chris Wondoloski. The Danville native, making his first start since March 30th, scored four goals to become the MLS all-time career goals leader with 148. It paved the way for the San Jose Earthquakes dominating 4-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon at Avaya Stadium.

San Jose (3-6-2) drew first blood thanks to a great play by Shae Salinas in the 21st minute. Salinas dribbled in from the left wing and sent a low centering pass to a wide open Chris Wondolowski from five yards out and Wondo cashed it in with a one-timer off his right foot into the back post for his first goal of the season tying former Quake Landon Donovan at 145.

“It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work by Wondo”, said Salinas. “He’s been my teammate longer than anybody (I’ve played with) and I’ve been his teammate longer than anybody. It’s an honor to be apart of what he’s done. He’s an incredible goal scorer.”

Chicago (4-4-4) had two good chances to even the score within four minutes of each other. In the 24th minute the ball caromed off a deflection over to Nemanja Nikolic who was wide open in the center of the box but Quakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega made a diving save with his legs to keep Chicago’s leading goal scorer off the scoreboard. Then in the 28th minute, a free kick attempt Aleksandar Katai from just outside the box was stopped by Vega.

History was made in the 48th minute when a centering cross by Christian Espinoza was dropped by Fire goalkeeper David Ousted that landed right on to the foot of Wondo who chipped the ball past Ousted for the record breaking 146th career goal.

“It’s crazy”, said the all-time leading goal scorer in MLS history. “I love visualization. I’d always pictured hitting a 30 yard blast going up the 90. Didn’t really picture the goalie dropping it and tapping it in.”

Wondo scored the hat trick in the 74th minute when Espinoza led a rush down the right slot. He was tripped up but referee Alex Chillowicz allowed the Quakes to play the advantage and the ball found its way to a wide open Wondolowski who fired the ball into the upper left corner for goal #147.

“Honestly I’m just having fun right now”, said Wondo. “It’s really rejuinating and has just reignited this passion (I have playing soccer). I’m really having fun now.”

Wondo wasn’t done as four minutes laters he added to his all-time total when Jackson Yueill centered a ball from the right over to the left to a once again wide open Wondolowski who tapped into the goal into an empty net sending the crowd into a frenzy for goal #148.

Chicago scored a late goal in the 83rd minute when a shot by Katai deflected off a body that changed direction on Vega and into the back of the net for Katai’s third goal of the season.

“I can say it (now) because it’s going to seem odd to you guys”, Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda said jokingly. “But when I was speaking to my coaching staff today (before the game), I said maybe he’ll score four goals today.”

Wondo was substituted in the 90th minute to a standing ovataion from the Avaya Stadium faithful.

GAME NOTES: The Quakes have won four consecutive home games this season.

Forward Danny Hoesen suffered an injury yesterday that prevented him from playing in the game which cleared the way for Wondo to start.

Chicago had their two game winning streak snapped after back-to-back wins for the first time in two years after wins over the New England and Minnesota. It also snapped the Fire’s three game winning streak against the Quakes. San Jose leads the overall series 9-6-5.

A video message from Donovan was played at the 90th minute congratulating Wondolowski’s accomplishment.

Johan Kappelhof was issued a yellow card in the 41st minute on a tackle he made on Magnus Eriksson. Espinoza was issued his own yellow card in the 54th minute. Then Jorge Corrales received a yellow card in the 63rd minute. Katai received a yellow card at the end of the match.

Fire midfielder Nicholas Gaitan did not play due to a thigh injury.

UP NEXT: The Quakes travel north of the border to take on Toronto FC on Sunday 5/26 at 4:30pm at BMO Field.

 

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Warriors make easy work of Blazers; Raptors-Bucks series feels almost like NBA Finals itself; plus more

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nba.com photo: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry (30) drives the lane against the Portland Trail Blazers defense in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals last Tuesday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 The Golden State Warriors head into Game 2 Thursday night at Oracle Arena after coming away with a 116-94 win over the Portland Trailblazers. Is the 22-point win an indication of where the Warriors are in this series?

#2 You talk about the best versus the best. The Toronto Raptors with Kawhi Leonard and the Milwaukee Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s a series that very well could go seven games.

#3 The San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues, who were a tough pick on who wins this series, are all tied up. The Sharks, who opened with home ice, set the tone with a three-goal 6-3 win in Game 1, lost Game 2 in a 3-2 squeaker that had the Sharks trying to figure out the Blues all night. Game 3 Wednesday night in St. Louis will prove no different as these teams are expected to provide a close contest and an unpredictable game.

#4 The San Jose Earthquakes host the Chicago Fire at Avaya Stadium this Saturday. The Quakes are coming off a 3-1 loss last Saturday in New England to the Revolution, but were undefeated previous to that in four games with two wins and two ties. The Quakes are ninth in the West with three wins, six loses and two draws. For the Fire, they are eighth in the East with four wins, four loses, and four draws.

#5 In baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias was arrested and put on administrative leave for domestic abuse. Urias was arrested at a Los Angeles parking lot at a shopping mall. Details of what happened were not forthcoming, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said no matter this is not the ideal situation.

London Marq does Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Earthquakes fall to Fire 4-1

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Photo credit: Major League Soccer (@MLS)

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE — Chris Wondolowski broke the scoreless deadlock late in the match, but the Chicago Fire finished with a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium.

The Fire opened the scoring early in the first half as Djordje Mihailovic kicked the ball in for his first career MLS goal at the 14th minute.

Luis Solignac used the power of his head to put the ball into the net and the Fire took a 2-0 lead at the 39th minute.

The Fire built up two goals and carried a 2-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Fire continued to burn in the second half. Nemanja Nikolic scored at the 48th minute to give his team a 3-0 lead.

The Quakes put themselves in the same dark hole like they did in Washington D.C. last Saturday. Nikolic notched his 20th goal of the season at the 65th minute.

The Quakes were on the verge of being handed a second consecutive shutout loss until Wondolowski hit his 12th goal of the season at the 87th minute. Despite the incredible goal, the Fire continued to hold onto a 4-1 lead until the very end of the match.

Notes
Only one Western Conference side has fewer home losses than the Earthquakes’ one (SKC – 0). The Quakes are also in the midst of a seven-game unbeaten run at home.

Wednesday night marked the first showdown between the Quakes and Fire at Avaya Stadium since the venue’s first-ever regular season match in 2015.

The Quakes have gone 3-0-1 in their last four games following a loss.

The Quakes close out the season with three of their last four games at Avaya Stadium. They’re 8-0-2 in their last 10 home matches, including MLS and U.S. Open Cup contests.

Up Next
The Earthquakes host the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. PST.