Tag: mls

San Jose Earthquakes gets sprayed with a can of beer as they celebrate their second win shutting out the Chicago Fire on Sunday 2-0 at the ESPN Wide World Sports Complex in Orlando (theathletic.com photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

ORLANDO, Fla—The San Jose Earthquakes are making a habit of putting teams away in the second half of matches.

They scored two goals to take control in the second 45 en-route to a 2-0 shutout victory over the Chicago Fire FC in their final match of Group B play on Sunday evening at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

With the win, the Quakes clinched first place with seven points (2-0-1) in Group B of the MLS Is Back tournament and advance to the Round of 16 as they await their next opponent.

“These three games were important for this tournament, and it’s also important for the points in the regular season from the stoppage,” said Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda. “Today, the players are responding in an excellent manner. That makes us and our families happy, especially the people from San Jose that watch and follow us.”

The first half featured an exhibition on passing and not much shooting the ball at the goal. San Jose controlled possession with a 70%-30% advantage, but neither team generated many quality chances.

Magnus Eriksson’s shot attempt in the 25th minute sailed high over the net. Luka Stojanovic had the best chance to score by either team in the 39th minute when Chicago finally applied pressure in the offensive zone. However his right-footed shot also sailed over the net.

San Jose (2-1-2) broke the deadlock in the 56th minute when Andy Rios made a touch pass over to Jackson Yuiell. The Man of the Match then quickly found Cristian Espinoza ahead down the right wing. Espinoza beat Fire defender Francisco Calvo off the ball and lasered a shot into the back corner past goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm for his first goal of the season.

“We are just excited to be a team again, playing together. I think now these three games have given us a lot of confidence and a lot of momentum. We are just happy to be on the field. We didn’t want this to be our last game for a while, and we want to keep pushing and keep playing together. You can kind of see that everyone has a little bit of a chip on their shoulders to make it as far as we can and to enjoy ourselves. I think that’s why we are doing the best right now,” said Yueill.

It’s Espinoza third goal in 35 games since San Jose acquired him at the start of the 2019 season.

San Jose put the game away in the 83rd minute thanks to its super substitute Chris Wondolowski. Carlos Fierro sent in a perfect cross from the right sideline to an unmarked Wondolowski and the all-time MLS leading goal scorer headed in the ball past Kronholm for his second goal in as many games.

Wondo, who scored 30 seconds after coming in as a sub for Judson in the 82nd minute, increased his record to 161 goals.

“[The substitutions] depend on the game and on what we are experiencing on the bench. But I considered the game still open, and we could have ended it with the substitutions that we made. Fortunately, it ended up in a positive result,” Almeyda said.

Chicago (1-2-1) couldn’t find a way to get a ball past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega. He has recorded two shutouts in three games of group play.

San Jose’s back line, led by Florian Jungwirth, did a good job frustrating Fire forwards Robert Beric and C.J. Sapong and keeping them off the scoresheet.

GAME NOTES: San Jose had 5 corner kicks. Chicago had 3. It was considerably less than the MLS record 22 they had against Vancouver last Wednesday.

Stojanovic was replaced by Fabian Herbers in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half due to an lower body injury he suffered in the first half.

Chicago’s Boris Sekulic (29th minute), Alvaro Medran (53rd minute), Herbers (61st minute) Mauricio Pineda (62nd minute) Gaston Gimenez (58th minute) and San Jose’s Florian Jungwirth (37th minute), Judson (50th minute) and Eriksson (86th minute) received yellow cards.

San Jose is now 12-16-11 all-time against Chicago.

UP NEXT: San Jose awaits their next opponent at the conclusion of group play. Chicago takes on Vancouver as both teams conclude Group B play on Thursday 7/23 at 6:00am at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

Chris Wondolowski Shea Salinas of the San Jose Earthquakes celebrate after beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-3 in Major League Soccer’s MLS is Back tournament in Orlando, Florida (au.news.yahoo.com photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

ORLANDO, Fla- Sometimes a head coach has to take drastic measures and take a gamble to spark his team.

Shea Salinas has had a flare for the dramatics during his Earthquakes storied career. He scored the game winning goal eight minutes into stoppage time in the second half as the San Jose Earthquakes, down by two goals twice in the match, defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 4-3 in their second match of Group B play on Wednesday evening at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex.

Salinas won a 50/50 ball near midfield. He dribbled all the way in from 40 yards out, outmanuevred the ball past three Whitecap defenders inside the box, then fired a shot past Whitecaps goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau for his first goal of the season, giving his team their first win of the 2020 season.

San Jose (1-1-2) were so flat-footed for the first 45 minutes of the game, no one thought the Quakes would have the tenacity for such a combeack. Vancouver controlled play as they came out with an attacking agressiveness against the lifeless Quakes.

Vancouver (1-2), playing in their first Group B match, caught San Jose sleeping in the 7th minute of the match. No one marked left back Ali Adnan as the Iraqi national team memeber dribbled in from the right into the middle and fired a right-footed shot to the back of the far corner for his first goal of the season.

Then at the 22nd minute, the Quakes allowed an embarrassing own goal from Judson. A turnover created a breakaway opportunity for forward Yordy Reyna. As he raced down the pitch , he pulled up inside the box and his centering pass went off the foot of a trailing Judson into his own net for a 2-0 lead for the Whitecaps.

San Jose finally woke up in the second minunte of extra time as they cut the lead in half off a set piece. A centering pass off a corner kick found Andy Rios who deflected the ball off the back of his right heel past Crepeau for his first goal of the season.

The Quakes started off the first 10 minutes of the second half strong with the majority of play in the Whitecaps defensive zone as they created nuerous corner kick opportunties. However they weren’t able to get a quick eqaulizer.

Just when San Jose had momentum on its side, a horrible mistake led to Vancouver’s second two-goal lead. Goalkeeper Daniel Vega made a lackadaisical pass out to the right side where David Milinkovic intercepted the ball and centered a pass over Cristian Dejome who buried the ball into the back of the net for his first goal of the season.

Quakes head coach Matias Almeyda had seen enough of the lackluster play from his starters as he made four consecutive substituions in the 63rd minute when he instilled Chris Wondolowski, Danny Hoesen, Shea Salinas and Carlos Fierro.

The strategy paid off immediately as San Jose took control of the game. Nine minutes later Hoeson’s centering cross was deflected high in the air and Wondo, who was unmarked, jumped up and headed the ball past Crepeau for his first goal of the season.

Wondolowski increased his league record to 160 career goals.

San Jose scored the equalizer in the 81st minute. Once again the set piece was kind to the Quakes. Magnus Eriksson bent in a perfect cross off a corner kick into the middle where Oswaldo Alanis headed the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

Vancouver, who played the match without four of their forwards, were stunned beyound belief and could only look back at blowing their two goal lead in the last 18 minutes of the second half.

GAME NOTES: San Jose dominated the game in corner kicks (22-4) and shot attempts (30-7). They also won the possession battle 67.8% to Vancouver’s 32.2%.

Four yellow cards were issued by referee Marcos de Oliveira with three to San Jose (Cristian Espinoza, Jackson Yueill and Fierro) and one to Vancouver (Jasser Khmiri).

UP NEXT: The Quakes finish Group B play when they take on the Chicago Fire FC on Sunday 7/19 at 5:00pm at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex.

The San Jose Earthquakes gather before kick off to send a photo tweet to assistant coach Benjamin Galindo a get well after Galindo suffered a stroke and had brain surgery on May 28th. Galindo was in intensive care and was released home on Thursday in Guadalajara, Mexico . Galindo has been on the coaching staff since 2019. (@SJEarthquakes photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

ORLANDO, Fla.—Soccer is back in America.

In muggy conditions, the San Jose Earthquakes and the Seattle Sounders FC played their first game in four months to a competitive 0-0 draw on Friday evening at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex.

The MLS Is Back tournament has 24 of the 26 league’s teams competing in Orlando to restart the 2020 MLS season. The winner receives a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2021. FC Dallas and Nashville FC were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to their players and staff having numerous positive tests for COVID-19.

San Jose, who were the first team to travel to Orlando 16 days ago, looked like the team most adapted to the humid conditions as they controlled play in the first half with a 63-37% advantage in possession against the defending MLS Cup champions.

The Quakes had two good scoring chances in the 24^th and 25^th minutes. Christian Espinoza made a move from the right into the middle for a shot that was saved by Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Then Vako’s shot from the left wing was also stopped by Frei.

San Jose looked to make a dent in the scoreboard late in the first half when Espinoza centered a pass into the middle, but Andy Rios’ attempt sailed just to the left of the goal in the 39^th minute.

The Quakes defense played sound defense in the first half. With the exception of letting Cristian Roldan get behind them for a point-blank shot that Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel Vega made a two-handed blocker save in the 28^th minute, Seattle didn’t muster any other quality scoring chances in the first 45 minutes.

The second half saw Seattle increase the pressure in the Quakes defensive zone. Once again Vega made a point-blank save on Roldan in the 52^nd minute.

The steamy conditions began to take their toll on both teams with many players suffering cramps in the last 30 minutes of the second half.

San Jose dominated the game with nine corner kicks to just one for Seattle. The Quakes had a chance to take the lead in the 83^rd minute with their eighth of the match but were not able to cash in the opportunity.

Seattle’s best chance to break the deadlock came in the 84^th minute when a centering feed split two Quakes defenders to a wide open Raul Ruidiaz inside the box but he hesitated on his shot attempt, allowing Vega to come out and make the save.

Despite a combined 28 shots on goal, both goalkeepers shined the brightest on the pitch for 98 minutes.

GAME NOTES: Quakes center fullback Guram Kashia left the game late in the match with what appeared to be a cramp in his leg.

San Jose’s Tommy Thompson (19^th minute) and Seattle’s Xavier Arreaga (24^th minute) were issued yellow cards for unsporting behavior.

One new quirk the tournament features is teams have the ability to make five substitutions instead of the normal three. San Jose used all five opportunities while Seattle used four.

This was the Quakes first match since March 7^th when they lost to Minnesota FC 5-2 at Earthquakes Stadium.

UP NEXT: The Quakes take on the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Wednesday 7/15 in their second match of Group B play at 7:30pm at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.