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Minnesota shuts out Earthquakes 2-0 in St Paul; Loss is third in a row for SJ

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Scoreboard says it all as the San Jose Earthquakes are shutout by the Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field in St Paul MN on Sat Jul 20, 2024 (San Jose Earthquakes X image)

By William Espy

The San Jose Earthquakes were on the road visiting Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, MN on Saturday night. Minnesota entered the night battling for a playoff spot in the Western Conference despite a 3-game losing streak at home while San Jose was trying to claw their way out of the league’s basement. The Quakes picked up their third straight loss of their own making getting shutout 2-0 by the United.

Earthquakes Starting XI: Yarbrough, Verhoeven, Rodrigues, Beason, Kikanovic, Gruezo, Yueill, Pellegrino, Lopez, Espinoza, Ebobisse

Minnesota Starting XI: St. Clair, Jeong Sang, Harvey, Tapias, Padelford, Rosales, Lod, Dotson, Bran, Hlongwane, Oluwaseyi

It took until the ninth minute for either team to get an opportunity when Jeremy Ebobisse fired a shot that sailed wide to the left, giving the Earthquakes the first shot of the night. Minnesota was playing a physical game early on, leading to quite a few fouls by the home side in the opening 15 minutes. The Quakes were getting some dangerous free kicks as a result but weren’t capitalizing on them.

The first card of the night came in the 25th minute when Alejandro Bran blatantly fouled Hernan Lopez. Pellegrino had the best opportunity of the night so far in the 31st minute when he received a pass from the corner and shot it first-time but a defender was able to get a foot on the shot and deflect it over the goal.

Ebobisse got another opportunity moments later, but his header went wide of the goal. Bran got substituted out in the 33rd minute for Franco Fragapane. Minnesota got their first corner of the night in the 35th minute but were unable to do anything with it.

Despite San Jose leading in possession, shots and almost every important statistic in the first half, Minnesota got a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute when Tanner Beason deflected the ball past William Yarbrough and into his own net.

Carlos Gruezo picked up a yellow moments before the end of the half. Minnesota would maintain that lead into the break, it was 1-0 in favor of the home team at the half.

The Earthquakes started the second half with a hill to climb. Despite being the better team in the first 45 minutes, they trailed 1-0 due to a single mistake. Given their typical performance this season, it was very unlikely that they completed the comeback and walked away with three points, but every game has the potential to be a different story.

Lopez tried to tie it up early in the second, but a low percentage shot went over to the left. Joseph Rosales picked up Minnesota’s second booking of the night in the 59th. Just a couple of minutes later Yarbrough made his biggest save of the night on a shot from the center of the box by Bongokuhle Hlongwane.

Hlongwane was determined to extend his team’s lead, following up with two more quality shots but wasn’t able to score. The Quakes made a couple of substitutions in the 62nd minute with Lopez and Verhoeven coming out for Thompson and Jack Skahan.

Late in the 68th minute Minnesota got another yellow card, this time for Lod. Hlongwane’s effort was finally rewarded in the 75th minute when he extended Minnesota’s lead to two.

Despite a strong start to the game, the Earthquakes did themselves a hole they were unable to come out of. It seemed clear that Minnesota wanted it more once the second half started, and they’ll be glad their winless streak at home has come to an end. Meanwhile, the Earthquakes still need quite a bit of work if they’re going to climb up the standings at any point in the season.

Dynamo get late goal from Steres to up end Earthquakes in 1-0 shutout win

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San Jose Earthquakes striker Jeremy Ebobisse battles for the ball against Houston Dynamo midfielder Artur during the Dynamo’s 1-0 win over the Earthquakes at Pay Pal Park on Wednesday JUL 17, 2024. (Houston Dynamo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE— Daniel Steres picked a great time to get his first goal of the season.

The Houston Dynamo fullback scored in the 86th minute as his heroics propelled the Dynamo to a 1-0 shutout victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose has lost seven of its last eight matches as it anchors the bottom of the Western Conference. Houston has won three of its past five matches and maintained the eight spot in the conference as it has a four-point lead over 9th place Minnesota United.

Houston (9-7-7-34 points) had the first scoring opportunity in the first 45 minutes. Sebastian Ferreira’s header attempt missed wide left after a corner kick in the 20th minute. Then six minutes later, the Dynamo had its closest chance at breaking the seal when Griffin Dorsey’s shot from the right wing was knocked away by Quakes goalkeeper Jacob Jackson, who made his second start of the season, in the 26th minute.

San Jose (4-18-2-14 points) had two quality scoring chances from Jeremy Ebobisse. First, in the 25th Ebobisse’s header attempt sailed wide left off of a cross from Hernan Lopez. Then in the 39th minute, another header attempt went wide right off of a Cristian Espinoza free kick from the left end line.

It was one of the Earthquakes best defensive games of the season, but they weren’t able to finish the few scoring chances they had.

“I told the guys you know; I thought it was a game where we brought a lot of energy,” said ‘Quakes interim head coach Ian Russell. “We brought a lot of fight and when you do that, you usually win those games, especially at home. I have no complaints when a team will work that hard. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I told the guys (to) continue to do that and we’ll be fine.”

The Quakes best scoring attempt in the first half came from Benji Kikanovic in the 31st minute when his running header attempt from the left wing sailed high over the net off of a free kick from Espinoza from 25 yards out.

Houston fired 13 shots in the first half with five of them on target that were saved by Jackson. Dynamo goalkeeper Steve Clark didn’t have a face a shot on net in the first half as San Jose only attempted four total shots.

The Earthquakes were awarded a penalty in the 50th minute by referee Natalie Simon when fullback Micael dos Santos tripped Espinoza inside the box. However, after a VAR review it was determined that dos Santos touched the ball first before hitting Espinoza’s foot.

The Dynamo had a good scoring in the 67th minute when Coco Carrasquilla sent a back pass over to Dorsey who kicked it very high over the net despite having a good look on net.

Houston finally broke through with time winding down in the match. McKinze Gaines sent a pass down low near the goal-line to Amine Bassi. The French midfielder then crossed the ball back into the middle of the box where an unmarked Steres one-timed the ball out of the air with his left foot into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.

Steres came into the match in the 73rd minute as he replaced Dorsey by Dynamo head coach Ben Olsen who wanted fresh legs deep into the match.

“It just comes down to the small details. There’s been a lot of games where we’ve given up goal late (in the match) and it kind of bites us in the ass. We gotta tighten that up. If we don’t, we’re going to keep losing,” Kikanovic said.

Things got chippy when Hector Herrera and Rodrigues had a moment of pushing and shoving after a foul near the left sideline in the fourth minute of stoppage time. No cards were issued by Simon despite the scuffle.

San Jose finished with no shots on target during the match and nine total, while Houston had 22 total shots. Clark earned his six clean sheet of the season despite not having to make a save throughout the evening. Jackson made six saves on seven shots on net in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with five corner kicks. Houston had seven.

San Jose is 10-19-4 in the all-time series with Houston.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels up north to take on Minnesota United on Saturday 7/20 at 5:30pm at Allianz Field.

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.

Lopez plays hero as Earthquakes snap losing skid with 1-0 shutout win over Fire

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Hernán López was the Man of the Match as he celebrates his fourth goal of the season with his teammates as the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0 at Pay Pal Park on Sunday JUL 7, 2024. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — Hernán López is starting to live up to the hype.

The Argentinian striker scored the match’s lone goal in the 49th minute and it proved to be the game winner as the San Jose Earthquakes walked off the pitch at Pay Pal Park happily after a 1-0 shutout victory over the Chicago Fire on Sunday afternoon.

San Jose won for the first time in its last nine matches since defeating the Colorado Rapids 3-2 back on May 11th as it snapped a six-match losing streak. Chicago has lost three out of its last four matches.

López’s heroics were set up by fellow country man Cristian Espinoza. After receiving the ball inside his own defensive zone, Espinoza sent a perfect long ball out to López that split two defenders. López raced ahead along the left wing and fired a shot to far corner of the net beating Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady for his fourth goal of the season.

“We needed to win tonight. The [California] Clásico was disappointing. Then our game against St. Louis. I thought we were pretty flat coming out. So I thought we were on the front foot all night. Deserved the win. Just really happy with how our players responded,” Interim head coach Ian Russell said.

It was the first goal they scored in two over 5 halves of play and the first lead since the Rapids game back on May 11th as well.

Russell implemented a 5-3-2 type of formation where he had Benji Kikanovic play a defensive right wing back position while at the same time having Kikanovic press up high on the attack when the Earthquakes had possession.

“Just physically very fast,” said Russell regarding Kikanovic. “He can do it over and over. He’s not a guy that needs five minutes to recover. Very good in the air, works extremely hard. His defending has gotten a lot better over the last few years. I think he’s got a really high ceiling. He’s still young, so just really excited. He’s a guy that never complained, just does his business. He’ll do anything for the team.”

Chicago (5-11-6-21 points) began the match with a quick shot on net by forward Hugo Cuypers in the fourth minute, but ‘Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough was in the right position to grab both hands on the ball for his first save of the match.

Yarbrough had a bit of a mishap with the ball in the 23rd minute with it getting behind him after attempting to clear the ball out of danger, Rodrigues, who had one of his best defensive games of the season, bailed him out by backtracking and clearing the ball out of the box.

“Rodri (Rodrigues) is a classic defender. I love having him on my team in that backline. I love the confidence that he has. He loves taking risks, and I admire that. Today he had an excellent performance. We were frustrated, especially in the back. … And so to see tonight that all the hard work being put in paid off on a night like today, especially speaking specifically about Rodri, I’m basically so happy for the guy. I know he’s going to go home tonight and have a relaxed night, and he’s going to enjoy the day off tomorrow. Then he’s going to come back Tuesday ready to go again. We all have to, but Rodri is a dude who I love having in the back line and I love that no matter how things are going. I love the confidence that he shows to try to play this style regardless of what’s going on,” Yarbrough said.

San Jose (4-16-2-14 points) also had chances early on in the opening 45 minutes. López’s first shot attempt sailed wide right in the ninth minute and then two minutes later Jackson Yueill’s left footed shot was saved by Brady.

The Earthquakes came close in the 25th minute to breaking the seal when Kikanovic’s headed went over the right side of the net. Their best chance to get the first goal of the game in the first half came in the last minute of stoppage time when Rodrigues’ shot hit off the crossbar.

Chicago thought they had scored the equalizer in the 71st minute after Hugo Cuypers cleaned up the rebound off of a Thomas Barlow shot that caromed off the crossbar over to Cuypers who headed the ball into an empty net. However, after a VAR review, it was determined that Barlow was offsides on the play.

“We’ve had a lot of those close ones kind of go the other way. So in that moment, it was a relief that that happened. … I think it gave the players a little relief, and then we’re able to make some changes after that to kind of slow them down with it,” Russell said.

The Fire kept the pressure on in the final fifteen minutes with chances from Maren Haile-Selassie and Barlow went wide left and wide right respectively a minute apart in the 74th and 75th minutes.

Despite having seven minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half, Yarbrough and the backline held down the fort and kept the Fire from scoring the equalizer.

Yarbrough finished the match with one save to earn his first and the team’s first clean sheet of the season. Brady made three saves on four shots on net in the losing effort.

“We need to try to do something to change what we know we’re capable of. It definitely helps. You know when like today there’s a clean sheet but you’re going into [the] Kansas City [game] next weekend. I want three or four or five in a row. I’ll enjoy the night today, but tomorrow we have an off-day. I’m looking at film right away, seeing what I can improve on and certain things that I can discuss with teammates and do everything I can to make it two in a row. I like that pressure. I like that weight on my shoulders. It’s been a part of my entire career. And you know, hopefully we can make a turnaround,” Yarbrough said.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with seven corner kicks. Chicago had five.

The club’s last shutout in regular-season play occurred on Sept. 9, 2023, in a scoreless road draw against D.C. United.

San Jose is now 15-16-11 against Chicago in the all-time series and 11-6-5 at home.

Quakes forwards Cristian Espinoza and Jeremy Ebobisse started Saturday’s match, extending their MLS-leading active consecutive games played streaks to 96 and 95, respectively.

Ebobisse made his 100th and 101st appearances with San Jose against St. Louis CITY SC last Wednesday and tonight against Chicago Fire FC, respectively.

With his start tonight, Earthquakes midfielder and captain Jackson Yueill passed Shea Salinas in games started for San Jose (184) for third on the all-time club list. The midfielder now only trails Ramiro Corrales (228) and Chris Wondolowski (313).

Midfielder Hernán López scored his fourth goal of the season in 10 MLS starts (12 appearances).

Espinoza notched his 11th assist of the season, tied for 4th in MLS. He is now is the Quakes’ all-time leader in game-winning assists with 15, passing Richard Mulrooney and Shea Salinas (tied, 14). With his assist tonight, Espinoza is only one goal contribution away from 100 for the Earthquakes. Only Chris Wondolowski’s 207 (167g/40a) and Ronald Cerritos’ 108 (61g/47a) are higher totals among San Jose players, past or present.

UP NEXT: San Jose continues its three-match home stand when they host Sporting KC on Saturday 7/13 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

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.

Galaxy spoil Earthquakes 50th anniversary party with 3-0 shutout win

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Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Ricky Puig entered the game as a substitute in the second half of the 101st California Classico against the San Jose Earthquakes at Stanford Stadium on Saturday JUN 29, 2024. (Los Angeles Galaxy)

by Marko Ukalovic

PALO ALTO, Calif. — On a night where the San Jose Earthquakes were celebrating the team’s 50th anniversary, the Los Angeles Galaxy played party poopers with a 3-0 shutout victory in the 101st California Classico on Saturday evening at Stanford Stadium.

San Jose has lost five matches in a row. Los Angeles has won four matches in a row and continued to hold on to second place in the Western Conference.

This was the first match with interim head coach Ian Russell at the helms as he took over for Luchi Gonzalez who was relieved of his duties this past Monday. Gonzalez had led a team that had lost a potential of 20 points in matches they had leads in.

“We have a lot of respect for him,” Earthquakes captain Jackson Yueill said on the team playing their first game under Russell as the head coach of the team. “He brings a calm energy, but he wants to press, he wants to play, he wants to be dynamic. So, guys are still eager to make their marks, still make something of this season. It’s the Cali Classico, so it’s an important one. We’re here to play for him.”

Los Angeles (11-3-8-41 points) had the first scoring chance of the match early on in the eighth minute. An odd man counterattack led to a shot attempt by Joseph Paintsil that was easily handled by ‘Quakes goalkeeper William Yabrough.

San Jose (3-15-3-12 points) had scoring chances a minute apart in the 20th and 21st minute by Jeremy Ebobisse and Hernan Lopez that went wide left. Then in the 23rd minute a ball centered in the box was headed on the net by fullback Daniel Munie but Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made a point-blank save.

The match opened up in the final 15 minutes of the first half. Each team had quality chances to break the seal. Ebobisse received the ball inside the center of box from 10 yards out. After moving past a Galaxy defender, Ebobisse’s left footed shot sailed high over the net. A minute later a shot from the left wing inside the box by Amahl Pellegrino was thwarted away by McCarthy.

The Galaxy finally drew first blood on a counterattack in the 37th minute after the Earthquakes failed to get a shot on target off of a corner kick. Gabriel Pec possessed the ball from midfield down the right wing and crossed the ball into the middle and Paintsil beat Yarbrough with a left-footed shot from 15 yards for his sixth goal of the season.

“I think that’s what frustrating,” said Russell regarding his team outplaying Los Angeles in the first half yet were down heading into the intermission. “You see the score line. If you didn’t watch the game, and you see the score 3-0 you think oh man they didn’t play well. I was very happy with a lot of the game. But then there’s again a big mistake that keep on hurting us and we got to fix those.”

Los Angeles threw a dagger through the hearts of San Jose in 72nd minute. A shot from Riqui Puig from outside the box went past the outstretched reach of Yarbrough off the right post. The rebound went to an unmarked Dejan Joveljic who headed the ball into an empty net for his team leading 12th goal of the season.

Mauricio Cuevas put the cheery on top for the Galaxy in the first minute of stoppage when he finished off a great cross into the middle of the box from Miki Yamane for his first goal of the season. Cuevas came into the match in the 86th minute when he subbed for Diego Fagundez.

McCarthy stopped all five shots on target to earn the clean sheet. Yarbrough made four saves on seven shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with five corner kicks. Los Angeles had six.

The Earthquakes honored the 50th anniversary of the team with a special celebration at halftime that included past players, coaches and staff from over the team’s 50-year history, including Quakes legend Paul Child.

The announced attendance was 40,844.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels out to the Midwest to take on St. Louis CITY SC at 5:30pm at CITYPARK.

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.

Rodriguez’s late goal lifts Timbers in 2-1 win over Earthquakes

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Portland Timbers striker Jonathan Rodridguez scores the go-ahead goal against the San Jose Earthquakes goalie Jacob Jackson and Paul Marie at Pay Pal Park on Wednesday JUN 19, 2024. (Portland Timbers)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Earthquakes took on the Portland Timbers on Wednesday evening at Pay Pal Park.

San Jose is winless in its past six matches/with the win/tie snapped its five-match winless streak. Portland extended its points streak to five matches/had its four-match point streak snapped.

Portland (6-7-6-24 points) drew first blood in the 22nd minute thanks to a big blunder by ‘Quakes goalkeeper Jacob Jackson, who made his first career MLS start. A back pass from to Tanner Beason to Jackson wasn’t controlled by the young goalkeeper. Evander came storming in and deflected the ball off of the former New England Revolution keeper before depositing it into an open net with a left footed volley for his co-leading eighth goal of the season.

San Jose’s (3-13-2-14 points) Vitor Costa was guilty of offsides twice that derailed two scoring chances first in the 13th minute that wiped out a potential goal and the other in the 30th minute where his shot attempt sailed high and wide over the net.

The Earthquakes didn’t generate a shot on goal in the opening 45. The closest the came to scoring the equalizer was in the 39th minute. A centering pass into the middle of the box from Cristian Espinoza was deflected away from Jeremy Ebobisse by Dario Zuparic who would have had an easy tap in into an open net.

San Jose opened up the second half with the equalizer goal five minutes in off of a set piece. Espinoza’s corner kick was deflected out of the box onto the foot of Paul Marie, who came in off the bench for the injured Carlos Akapo in the 18th minute, and the French fullback blasted a laser of a shot from 23 yards out into the upper corner of the net beyond the outstretched reach of Timber’s goalkeeper James Pantemis for his second goal of the season.

“It’s like this theme that continues to haunt us in terms of a good 60 or 70 minutes. Right there we could be winning, because of how we are imposing. We actually are defending well, we lose in a moment, we lose organization,” ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez said.

The ‘Quakes has a glorious chance to gain its first lead of the match three minutes later. Hernan Lopez found Amahl Pellegrino all alone in the middle of the pitch. Pellegrino dribbled in one-on-one with Pantemis, made a move around the goalkeeper to the left side before missing wide left and over the net with his shot attempt.

Portland regained the lead in the 72nd minute. Evander chipped in a ball from just outside the box and Jonathan Rodriguez got behind Marie near the left post and headed the ball past Jackson for his seventh goal of the season.

“I don’t know maybe you and I share the same feelings,” said Marie when asked if the lack of communication has led to his team conceding goals late in the match. “I feel like we start to be over positive on one side and getting stretched out with nobody in the middle. I feel like that’s what happened in New York, last game and this game.”

Pantemis made one save on two shots on goal to earn the victory. Jackson made two shots on four shots on goal in the losing cause.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with eight corner kicks. Portland had two.

San Jose is 6-22-10 against Portland in the all-time series.

UP NEXT: San Jose travels down south in a battle of California as the take on LAFC on Saturday 6/22 at 7:30pm at BMO Stadium.

Yubo’s hat trick the difference in FC Cincinnati’s 4-2 win over Earthquakes

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FC Cincinnati’s Obinna Nwobodo (#5) lifts up Yuya Kubo (#7) in celebration after one of Kubo’s three goals of the match against the San Jose Earthquakes at Pay Pal Park on Saturday JUN 15, 2024. (FC Cincinnati)

by Marko Ukalovic

It was a night Yuya Kubo will not forget.

The Japanese reserve midfielder scored his first career hat trick as FC Cincinnati defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 4-2 on Saturday evening at Pay Pal Park.

FC Cincinnati snapped its two-game losing streak and have won seven of its past nine games. San Jose are winless in its past five matches.

San Jose (3-11-2-11 points) had scoring chances in the 22nd and 33rd minute of the first half. First, Espinoza centered the ball into the box, but the ball deflected off the foot of Amahl Pellegrino wide left. Then in the 33rd minute Espinoza centered a ball from right to left over to Hernan Lopez, who quickly fed it out to Jeremy Ebobisse in the middle of the box, but Ebobisse’s attempt sailed high over the net.

FC Cincinnati’s (11-3-3-36 points) leading goal scorer Luciano Acosta had two scoring chances in the 29th and 32nd minute of the opening 45 minutes but both of his attempts both were shot over the net.

FC Cincinnati drew first blood in the 53rd minute thanks to a gift from the Earthquakes. Tanner Beason’s pass attempt was intercepted by Pavel Bucha and the Czech midfielder dribbled into the box before firing a right footed shot past Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough for his second goal of the season.

San Jose responded with the equalizer three minutes later. A shot from Vitor Costa just outside the box was initially saved by FC Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano who dove to his right. Lopez cleaned up the rebound with a right footed punch into an open net for his fourth goal of the season.

The field opened up as the two teams traded chances after both goals were scored. Pellegrino raced down the left side from midfield in the 60th minute one-on-one with Matt Miazga. Pellegrino’s attempted chip toward the net was blocked out of bounds by Miazga for a San Jose corner kick.

“We lost our organization,” said ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez on his team getting beat on the transition in back-to-back games. “That’s my responsibility as a coach in exercising that and improving that. Especially now that it’s hurt in consecutive games.”

The ‘Quakes gained its first lead in the 72nd minute. Costa sent a home run pass from just beyond midfield that found Espinoza inside the box along the right wing. Espinoza made a move to the inside before burying a left footed shot past for his fifth goal of the season.

FC Cincinnati scored the equalizer six minutes later. Acosta sent a long ball out to the middle of the pitch to Yuya Kubo, who came on as a sub for Serigo Santos in the 64th minute, who won a one-on-one race with Beason before depositing the ball past Yarbrough for his first goal of the match and fifth of the season.

The visiting team regained the lead two minutes later. thanks to some impressive play inside the box. A give and go between Acosta and Gerado Venezuela found its way to the foot of Kubo who tapped it home for his brace and sixth goal of the season.

FC Cincinnati put the game away in the 87th minute with an insurance goal. Acosta picked up his third assist of the match when he sent a ball up to Kubo who got behind the ‘Quakes defense as he finished off his hat trick with a shot right between the legs of Yarbrough for his seventh goal of the season.

“They’re dangerous. If you give Lucho (Luciano) Acosta half a second, he plays a one-touch ball behind Kubo and that’s what they’re capable of,” Gonzalez said.

Celentano made six saves on seven shots to earn his ninth victory of the season. Yarbrough made two saves on nine shots on goal.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with 10 corner kicks. FC Cincinnati had three.

San Jose is 1-2-0 against FC Cincinnati in the all-time series.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts the Portland Timbers on Wednesday 6/22 at 7:00pm at Pay Pal Park.