Tag: mls

Espinoza’s late equalizer saves Earthquakes in 2-2 draw with Galaxy in California Classico

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San Jose Earthquake and Los Angeles Galaxy players battle during a corner kick during their 2-2 draw at Stanford Stadium on Saturday July 1, 2023. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic and Titus Wilkinson

PALO ALTO, Calif. — If there is one to describe the California Classico, it’s drama.

So was the case in the 97th installment of the Classico as the San Jose Earthquakes battled to a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday evening before an announced crowd of 42,823 at Stanford Stadium.

San Jose is winless in its past four matches. Los Angeles is unbeaten in its past five matches including four straight ties.

San Jose (7-7-7-28 points) had a few quality scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the match but weren’t able to finish any of them past Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

The ‘Quakes controlled possession for most of the first half but it was the Galaxy that struck for the match’s first goal.

Los Angeles (3-9-7-16 points) drew first blood in the 31st minute off a set piece. Douglas Costa’s corner kick was headed into the back corner of the net by an unmarked Raheem Edwards for his first goal of the season.

“We created more danger (than LA did),” said ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzales. “The sloppiness was in the first five to 10 minutes of the second half and they took advantage of that. And we were chasing the game twice.”

The Earthquakes answered in the 42nd minute. Carlos Akapo intercepted a Galaxy clearing attempt inside the box. Akapo centered the ball back into the middle where Jack Skahan one-timed the ball past Bond for his first goal of the season.

The Galaxy regained the lead at the start of the second half. Costa set up Preston Judd in the middle of the box thanks to some lax defense by San Jose. Judd got in behind the defense and beat Quakes’ goalkeeper Daniel with a right footed shot to the left corner of the net for his third goal of the season in the 47th minute.

“That’s a heck of a midfield. It’s probably one of the best midfields in the league. I’m proud of our guys to respond. To not give up, push the game till the end. We would’ve liked to have gotten that third goal. So, I’m proud of my guys in terms of fighting and responding. And showing our fans we don’t give up,” Gonzales said.

It was a sloppy start to the second half for San Jose as they weren’t sharp with their passes that led to counter attacks for Los Angeles.

San Jose scored the equalizer in the 81st minute. Jackson Yueill sent a pass up to Christian Espinoza who shot the ball from just outside the box and it deflected off of the shoulder of Chris Mavinga and past an outstretched Bond for Espinoza’s team leading ninth goal of the season.

“I think it shows that we’re a resilient team,” said ‘Quakes captain Yueill. “We’re a team that doesn’t want to put our heads down. I’m proud of the guys for the effort, the attitude, the response. Overall, we’ll take this (point) and learn from it and get ready for next week.”

The drama happened near the end of the match as a controversial penalty was called in the 89th minute by referee Ramy Touchan when Daniel Aguirre was knocked down inside the box. However, after a VAR review Touchan overturned the call and San Jose escaped a potential disastrous ending.

“I saw it live, I saw it up on the large screen in the stadium and then on the replay after,” said Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney. “Once you make the call, there’s an extraordinary threshold that it takes to change that call back once you made that call. The reality is a player with his first leg fouls the player and his knee catches a little bit of the ball after he fouls the player. I just don’t understand it.”

Gonzalez substituted “energy guys” late in the second half with Benji Kikanovic and Ousseni Bouda. They subs brought fresh legs in a final attempt to get the game winning goal in stoppage to no avail.

Bond finished with two saves on four shots on target. Daniel made four saves on six shots in earning the draw along with Bond.

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

Los Angeles leads the all-time series against San Jose 42-33-18. San Jose is 5-2-3 against Los Angeles at Stanford Stadium.

Tonight’s attendance marked the 8th most attended match this season in MLS. San Jose has played in two of the top 10 most attended matches in the league. The other was when they visited Atlanta and played in front of a crowd of 67,538.

UP NEXT: San Jose visits LAFC on Saturday 7/8 at 7:30pm at BMO Stadium.

Earthquakes lose hard fought match against St. Louis 2-1

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- At home the Earthquakes came up just short against St. Louis despite leading in many metrics losing by a final of 2-1.

For the Earthquakes Daniel de Sousa Brito was in goal while for St. Louis Roman Bürki was in net.

San Jose came out with a little bit of a different formation today starting in a 4-2-3-1 while St. Louis was in a 4-1-2-1-2.

The first attempt of this match came at the 11 minute mark as Aziel Jackson forced Brito to make a save early.

After that San Jose would rally back with two attempts of their own one from Jamiro Monteiro and the other from Jeremy Ebobisse but both were saved.

At the 30 minute mark Jackson would get his second attempt on net of the first half but once again Brito was up to the challenge.

Then at the 40 minute mark St. Louis was awarded a corner that was conceded by Daniel which lead to Rasmus Alm taking the corner. It was a good one as he got it right to Samuel Adeniran who headed it in making it 1-0.

San Jose was not able to formulate a response in the first half but early on in the second they would do just that. The goal came due to sloppy work by St. Louis on their side of the field. That turnover lead to Jackson Yueill taking the ball and giving it to Ebobisse who tapped it smoothly over to Jamiro Monteiro and with a right footed shot it was tied up again 1-1.

Though Monteiro apparently showed a little to much jubilation after the goal as he was handed a yellow for excessive celebration.

That happiness was short-lived for San Jose as at the 55 minute mark as Jonathan Mensah was called for a foul in the penalty area on none other than Jackson. Taking the penalty would be Adeniran who made not mistake depositing the ball in the back of the net giving St. Louis the lead right back 2-1.

Jackson was also given a yellow only a minute after his goal but that was for a bad foul.

Towards the end of the match the Earthquakes made a real push to tie the game back up as both Carlos Akapo and Cristian Espinoza had good looks.

San Jose was given an additional nine minutes of extra time but both attempts from Rodrigues and Tommy Thompson were saved as St. Louis held on to win.

As previously mentioned the stats in this match favored San Jose in many areas as possession was in their favor at 62.9% to 37.1%. Shots also were in their favor at 14-9 and they managed to nine of those on target.

San Jose’s next game will be the Cali Clasico against LA Galaxy on Saturday July 1st at 7:30 p.m.

Úlfarsson’s brace in the second half power Dynamo to 4-1 win over Earthquakes

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Thunder and lightning delayed the match between the Houston Dynamo and the San Jose Earthquakes at Shell Energy Field on Wednesday JUN 21, 2023. (Houston Dynamo)

by Marko Ukalovic

Thor and mother nature provided the thunder and lightning in Houston.

The Houston Dynamo’s Thorleifur Úlfarsson scored two goals coming off the bench in the second half in a weather delayed match that helped propel his team to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on a stormy Wednesday evening at Shell Energy Field.

San Jose had its five-match unbeaten streak snapped. Houston vaulted over San Jose into fourth place in the Western Conference standings with its third straight victory.

The match started out as a nightmare for San Jose with Houston scoring two goals in the first five minutes of the match. Tanner Beason’s telegraphed pass was intercepted in the middle of the box by Amine Bassi, who kicked the ball past ‘Quakes goalkeeper Daniel for his team leading eighth goal of the season in the third minute.

Two minutes later, Houston (8-7-3-27 points) Nelson Quiñónes centered a ball into the middle where unmarked Corey Baird buried the ball into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.

“We didn’t show up tonight,” said ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez. “We didn’t compete tonight. It just was not a good night for us, and we know we are better than this. It’s about moving forward quickly and showing a response for our fans and families on Saturday against St. Louis CITY SC. They are a very difficult to play, and they beat us last time, and now we want to show our response in multiple ways on Saturday. We have the capacity to do that.”

San Jose (7-6-6) responded just before the halftime in the 41st minute on a set piece. Christian Espinoza’s free kick from the right wing was headed in by an unmarked Carlos Akapo into the far corner of the net. It was the fullback’s second goal of the season.

During the 61st minute of the match was delayed by lightning as the teams and fans headed for cover. The delay lasted two hours and 10 minutes before it was safe for the players to return to the field and resume the final 30 minutes of the second half.

Úlfarsson, who substituted in the 74th minute, made an immediate impact as Héctor Herrera made a touch pass to the man known as ‘Thor’ and he bent in a left footed shot perfectly into the left corner of the net for his first goal of the match in the 77th minute.

“We certainly felt like we had an opportunity at a second chance going into the last 30 minutes after the delay. The energy of the boys was good in the locker room. They were patient, and we were almost treating it like a second leg. We had the mentality of “Let’s go win the second leg.” But it didn’t happen. I will give full credit to Houston, they were clinical and aggressive. We have to accept that, and we have to move forward quickly,” Gonzalez said.

The Dynamo concluded the scoring when Úlfarsson completed his brace in the 89th minute. Once again Herrera set up Úlfarsson with a cross into the box and the Icelandic striker beat Daniel with a one-timer off the left post into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.

Dynamo goalie Steve Clark recorded the win despite not making a single save during the match as the only shot on target he faced was Akapo’s goal. Daniel made one save on five shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with six corner kicks. Houston had just one.

Espinoza tallied his sixth assist of his season and 50th of his MLS career, tying Shea Salinas for most assists in Quakes history.

UP NEXT: San Jose hosts St. Louis City SC on Saturday 6/24 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Stadium.

Earthquakes and Timbers play close match leading to tie 0-0

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Earthquakes welcomed the Timbers to their home and played a tight match leading to a 0-0 tie.

In between the pipes for San Jose was Daniel de Sousa Brito and for Portland David Bingham was the starting goaltender. The Earthquakes came out in a 4-3-3 formation while Portland started in a 4-4-2 formation.

Early on in the match the blue-and-black got close to getting a goal as Tanner Beason just missed a header from in close that went wide left.

Just four minutes after that attempt Judson Silva Tavares got a right footed shot off from outside the box that went just high.

At the 18th minute mark of the first half a yellow card was handed out to Portland as Santiago Moreno was called for a bad foul.

Just a couple minutes after the card Daniel had to make a save as Franck Boli got a shot on goal from the centre of the box.

Christian Espinoza responded with a shot of his own from the right side of the box that Bingham saved. Boli also got another shot on goal but that one was saved as well by Daniel.

At the 36th minute of the first half San Jose was awarded a free kick on a foul by Dairon Asprilla. The free kick was right at the top of the box and looked to be a great chance for the Earthquakes. Jeremy Ebobisse took the kick and dinged it off the bar and out keeping the score at 0-0.

Right before the end of the first half Dario Zuparic was given a yellow card for a bad foul bringing Portland’s total cards in the first half to two.

The second half was kicked off by a fantastic save by Daniel off a header by Evander da Silva Ferreira that came from extremely close range.

Later in the second half San Jose got their first yellow as Cade Cowell was given on for a bad foul. Then only three minutes later Paul Marie got a yellow card as well.

After a couple attempts on both sides the Earthquakes made a sub brining in Tommy Thompson for Judson. A minute after the sub Portland got another yellow as Eric Miller this time was given on for a bad foul.

Then at the 67th minute of the second half San Jose hit another post as Thompson hit the right post from the centre of the box.

There would be seven minutes of added time in this match and Portland did not let it go to waste. As at the 93rd minute Asprilla also hit the right post with a right footed shot from outside of the box.

Even with three posts being hit during the match that did not matter as the game ended in a tie 0-0.

At the end of the match possession favored San Jose at 54.8% to 45.2% while shots favored Portland 16-12.

San Jose’s next match will be on Wednesday on the road against Houston at 5:30 p.m.

Earthquakes get big win on home turf over Philadelphia 2-1

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Earthquakes took on one of the best teams in the east and came out with a hard fought victory 2-1.

San Jose came out tonight with a 4-3-3 formation and with Daniel de Sousa Brito starting in goal. While for Philadelphia they came out in a 3-4-1-2 formation with Andre Blake in between the pipes.

The black-and-blue’s offense got off to a quick start in this match as Cade Cowell received a crisp pass from Jeremy Ebobisse in the midfield. Cowell took the pass and ran with it but with a defender on him he cut back and made a beautiful pass to Ebobisse who was just outside of the box. Ebobisse took the pass and deposited into the left part of the net giving San Jose an early 1-0 lead at just the eight minute mark.

It did not take long for Philadelphia to respond as they got a couple free kicks go their way. Then on a corner kick at the 16 minute mark for Philadelphia Damion Lowe was left wide open out front. He headed the corner home and tied the game back up at one.

At the 29 minute mark of the first half the away team continued the pressure as Mikael Uhre got an attempt on goal that Brito saved. The rest of the first half saw San Jose not get another attempt on net while Philadelphia finished with five.

The second half got started with Brito having to make another save as this time Julián Carranza got a shot on goal.

After the save the Earthquakes got a burst of chances as they got three attempts with all of the missing.

Not long after the rush of offense from San Jose Miguel Trauco received a pass from Carlos Gruezo just outside of the box. Despite the distance Trauco shot an absolute bomb and picking the right corner of the net and giving the Earthquakes a 2-1 lead at the 57 minute mark.

The goal despite firing up the crowd seemed to fire up Philadelphia as well as Uhre once again got another shot on goal.

The rest of the second half saw San Jose just barely holding on as Philadelphia dominated possession and chances.

With only three minutes of added time the Earthquakes were able to hold on to their one goal lead winning 2-1.

The stats in this one favored the away team mostly as possession at the end of the match was 52% to 47% in favor of Philadelphia. The shots on goal showed that as well at 7-2.

The Earthquakes next match will be on Saturday against Portland at home at 7:30 p.m.

Earthquakes settle for scoreless draw despite man advantage

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Colorado Rapid’s Cole Bassett battles against by San Jose Earthquake’s Jackson Yueill at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday JUN 3, 2023. (Colorado Rapids)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Earthquakes weren’t able to take advantage of being a man up throughout the majority of the second half in a scoreless 0-0 draw with the Colorado Rapids on Saturday evening at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

San Jose has earned points in consecutive games. Colorado snapped its five-match losing streak but are winless in their last six and are still winless at home this season.

It was a disappointing result for Quake’s head coach Luchi Gonzalez as his team had a man advantage for the final 39 minutes of the second half when Colorado’s Moïse Bombito received his second yellow card in the 51st minute off of a bad foul which resulted in automatic red card and ejection from the match.

San Jose (6-5-5) came close to breaking the ice in the 63rd minute when Jeremy Ebobisse’s header attempt clanked off the post away from Rapid’s goalkeeper Marko Ilic.

Colorado (2-8-7) had a golden opportunity to take the lead despite only playing with 10 men. San Jose’s defender Rodriguez conceded a penalty, after a VAR review, in the 66th minute when he fouled Michael Barrios inside the box.

The Rapids weren’t able to capitalize as Quake’s goalkeeper Daniel stoned away Connor Ronan’s penalty kick in the 70th minute to keep the match evened at zero.

The Earthquakes offense looked stale and out of sync throughout the match as they weren’t able to connect with each other despite controlling the majority of the possession in the second half against a Rapids defense that had conceded 12 goals in its last five matches. They weren’t able to generate a shot on target during the match.

Ilic earned a clean sheet despite not having to make a save. Daniel stopped all five shots, including the penalty, in earning his first clean sheet of the season.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished seven corner kicks. Colorado had eight.

San Jose leads the all time series versus Colorado 32-15-19, including 13-16-10 on the road.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host the Philadelphia Union on Saturday 6/10 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

Earthquakes hold down the fort with 1-0 shutout victory over Sounders, snap road winless streak

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San Jose Earthquakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse celebrates his goal with his teammates during his team’s 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field on Wednesday MAY 31, 2023. (San Jose Earthquakes)

by Marko Ukalovic

The San Jose Earthquakes flirted with danger for all of the second half in a hostile environment as they held on for dear life in 1-0 shutout victory over the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday evening at Lumen Field.

San Jose snapped its 14-road match winless streak, with its first road win of 2023, that carried over from last season. The Western Conference leaders have lost three of its past four matches.

The last road win for San Jose was a 3-2 against the Los Angeles Galaxy back on July 13th, 2022.

Seattle (8-6-2-26 points) controlled most of the possession in the opening 45 minutes as they played in the ‘Quakes zone for the majority of the half. The Sounders best scoring chances came in the 35th minute, when Héber’s chance from point blank range was stopped by ‘Quakes goalkeeper Daniel.

San Jose (6-5-4-22 points) had their best scoring chance in the scoreless first half just before halftime in the 45th minute. Jeremy Ebobisse’s free kick from inside the D sailed high and wide over the net. Both teams had two shots on target.

The Earthquakes drew first blood early in the second half on a set piece in the 48th minute. Cristian Espinoza’s corner kicked was headed toward the middle of the box by Rodriguez. Ebobisse got loose and directed the ball past Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei with his left foot for his sixth goal of the season.

Seattle responded immediately with constant pressure inside the ‘Quakes zone for the next 20 minutes with multiple scoring chances, but San Jose’s defense bent but did not break with help from Daniel.

Raúl Ruidíaz had a golden chance to even the score in the 79th minute after a ball centered into the middle by Reed Baker-Whiting, but he shanked his attempt wide left of the net.

San Jose survived the final 15 minutes, including a point-blank header attempt by Léo Chú in the third minute of stoppage time, without conceding a goal to escape the Pacific Northwest with three points.

Daniel was perfect in stopping all eight shots on target to earn his first clean sheet of the season as well as his first win. Frei made two saves on three shots in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with two corner kicks. Seattle had 10.

San Jose is now 13-15-9 overall against Seattle, including 7-10-3 on the road.

The ‘Quakes went 2-2-1 in the month of May.

The Vancouver Whitecaps currently have the longest winless streak on the road with 15.

UP NEXT: San Jose close out its two-game road trip against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday 6/3 at 6:30pm at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

Earthquakes drop game late against Dallas 1-1

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Photo courtesy of San Jose Earthquakes. Jeremy Ebobisse celebrates a goal.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Earthquakes played a close on match on their home turf against Dallas and ended up fighting to a tie 1-1.

In goal for San Jose was Daniel de Sousa Brito while for Dallas in between the pipes was Jimmy Maurer.

The match saw an early injury to Dallas as Tsiki Ntsabeleng was hurt on a play just ten minutes in so Sam Junqua came in to replace him.

A couple minutes after the injury delay Miguel Traco had a couple great looks one from outside of the box and then another one from inside. Both attempts did miss but Traco looked good early in the match.

At the 25th minute of the match Jackson Yueill was given a yellow card for a bad foul and Dallas began to push. Jesús Ferreira got two great opportunities right after the card one that Brito had to make a save on.

Dallas right before the end of the first half suffered another injury as this time there was a delay for Marco Farfan thankfully though this time Farfan was able to stay in.

The first half came to an end with both team still at a stalemate of 0-0.

Early on in the second half Paul Marie was given a yellow card for a bad foul bringing the teams total up to two.

Right after the foul Farfan feeling better got a shot on goal from the left side of the six yard box that was once again saved by Brito.

Then there was another delay in the match due to injury as this time Marie went down and actually went down twice within a couple minute span. After the second time Marie was subbed out for Tommy Thompson.

In between the delays Jeremy Ebobisse was able to get a shot on goal that was saved by Maurer.

At the 69th minute mark of the match Farfan picked up the first yellow card for Dallas for a bad foul.

San Jose was then given a great opportunity on a free kick to the right of the box that Cristian Espinoza took. On the center the ball bounced around and Benjamin Kikanović got a head on the ball and it that just barely squeaked in.

It wasn’t the prettiest goal but the Earthquakes were up 1-0 as Tanner Beason picked up the assist on the goal.

Towards the end of the match there were more injury delays as both Carlos Gruezo and Brito went down but stayed in the match. All of the delays did mean though that Dallas would have time on their side with the refs adding ten minutes of stoppage time.

Before stoppage time two yellow cards were given out one to San Jose as Judson Silva Tavares was given one as well as Alan Velasco for Dallas.

Heading into stoppage time Dallas had momentum and they were able to capitalize on it. They tied it on a beautiful pass into the box by Velasco that Nkosi Tafari headed into the top of the net tying the game at the fourth minute of stoppage time.

At the end of the match Tavares was given another yellow card for another bad foul and thus was ejected from the match.

With that being the final big play of the match San Jose had to settle for a 1-1 tie against Dallas at home.

San Jose’s next game will be against Seattle on the road this upcoming Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Late penalty gives LAFC a 2-1 win over Earthquakes

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LAFC’s Stipe Biuk celebrates with his first half goal with teammate Diego Palalcios during LAFC’s 2-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes at BMO Stadium on Saturday MAY 20, 2023. (LAFC)

by Marko Ukalovic

It was not the ending either team had envisioned during a tough fought match.

A hand ball inside the box by Tanner Beason in the final minute of stoppage time set up the heroics of Carlos Vela as he converted the game winning penalty kick to give LAFC a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at BMO Stadium.

San Jose has lost two matches in a row after earning points in seven straight matches. LAFC has won two matches in a row after suffering its first loss of the season to the ‘Quakes two weeks ago at Levi’s Stadium.

During the fifth minute of stoppage time, a ball deflected off the hand of Beason while he was just inside the box. Referee Ismail Elfath had originally ruled for play to keep going. However, a VAR review called the play correctly and a penalty kick was awarded to LAFC.

Vela, the former MLS MVP who now is a substitute off the bench, made ‘Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski guess left while he calmly buried the kick into the lower right of the net for his fourth goal of the season much to the delight of the 22,030 in attendance.

It was a difficult pill to swallow to San Jose who were just seconds away from earning a point against its SoCal rival.

LAFC (7-1-4) drew first blood early three minutes into the match. José Cifuentes set up Stipe Biuk on the left side of the box. Biuk cut in and fired a shot past Marcinkowski for his second goal of the season.

LAFC controlled the first 30 minutes of the first half, but San Jose gained momentum with scoring chances from Paul Marie and Cristian Espinoza in the final 15 minutes of the opening 45 minutes.

“I thought our preparation was good. We were up for this one. It was definitely not the start we wanted. I thought that we got into the game at the 20th minute controlling their momentum and creating our own. I liked the way few finished the first half in terms of creating chances, getting pressure on the ball, creating turnovers, and leading to offensive transitions, and a little bit more bite and connection defensively,” ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez said.

San Jose (5-5-3) carried that momentum into the second half when they finally broke through with the equalizer in the 52nd minute.

Espinoza’s attempted cross from the left wing was blocked by Biuk. Fullback Miguel Trauco one touched the ball out of the air and sent in a floater toward the middle where the ball seemed to fool LAFC goalkeeper John McCarthy, as it snuck past him into the back of the net for Trauco’s first goal of the season.

“Happy for scoring my first goal, although it was a weird one. It wasn’t that pretty, but what’s important is that it motivated us to go out and try to win the match. It helped us in the moment, unfortunately things didn’t turn out in our favor but I’m happy for my first goal and I hope that it leads to a win next time,” Trauco said.

LAFC shifted the momentum in the final 30 minutes with counter attacks that led to numerous corner kicks as they had San Jose back on their heels as the ‘Quakes spent the final third of the match defending inside of its own zone.

“Second half, I thought we were fantastic, we created chances, we pushed the lines up, and the guys showed great energy and protagonism to push to tie the game and we earned that. As the game went on and after they conceded at home, they started to commit their numbers. But I thought we absorbed it well. We were very solid defensively. I was very confident we would get one point out of the game and even potentially create a chance in transition that could lead to a win, but it didn’t happen,” Gonzalez said.

McCarthy finished with two saves on three shots on target to earn the win. Marcinkowski made five saves on six shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished with seven corner kicks. LAFC had 15.

The Quakes are now 6-8-0 all-time against LAFC, including a 1-6-0 record on the road.

UP NEXT: San Jose returns home to host FC Dallas on Saturday 5/27 at 7:30pm at Pay Pal Park.

Galaxy too much for Earthquakes in 2-1 win in the California Classico

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Los Angeles Galaxy forward Dejan Joveljic celebrates his goal over the San Jose Earthquakes in his team’s 2-1 win at Dignity Health Park on Sunday MAY 14, 2023. (Los Angeles Galaxy)

by Marko Ukalovic

The Los Angeles attacked and pressed their way to a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in the 97th installment of the California Classico on Sunday evening at Dignity Health Park.

San Jose had its seven-match point streak snapped. Los Angeles snapped its two-game losing streak with just its second win on the season.

A scoreless first half featured both teams that tried to establish a physical presence with a combined total of 14 fouls in the opening 45 minutes. Los Angeles controlled the possession by a 57%-43 margin. The home team had the majority of scoring chances while San Jose tried counter-attacking only to turnover the ball on the final third of the pitch.

San Jose’s (5-4-3) best chance came early in the sixth minute when Christian Espinoza centered a ball over to Jeremy Ebobisse inside the box, but Ebobisse’s header attempt was easily saved by Galaxy goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, who made his return from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss seven matches he suffered on March 18th.

Los Angeles (2-6-3) best came a minute later when Chicharito chipped the ball just wide right of the net past ‘Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.

The Galaxy drew first blood off a set piece in the 60th minute on a controversial play. Memo Rodríguez’s corner kick was headed in by Martín Cáceres for his first goal of the season. San Jose contended that Cáceres’ hand touched the ball before he headed the ball in, but referee Joe Dickerson ruled it a good goal.

“I think our performance was not good. We can play better than that. Our quality in the attacking third. We had more turnovers than we’re used to. It comes down to connections and quality,” ‘Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez said.

Los Angeles iced the game in the first minute of stoppage time when Dejan Joveljic, who had just come into the game substituting in for Chicharito, stripped the ball away from Jonathan Mensah and dribbled in on Marcinkowski before depositing the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

San Jose spoiled Bond’s shutout bid in the final minute of stoppage time when Ousseni Bouda got behind the defense inside the box and buried a shot past Bond for his first goal of the season. It was too little too late for San Jose as time expired on the ensuing kickoff.

Bond finished the match with two saves on three shots to earn the victory. Marcinkowski made three saves on five shots on target in the losing effort.

GAME NOTES: San Jose finished the match with two corner kicks. Los Angeles had four.

The Galaxy lead the overall series 39-25-16.

Until tonight’s match, the away side had won four of the previous matches and San Jose has won five of the past nine matches down in LA.

Ebobisse had his goal streak in Los Angeles snapped as he had scored in all five previous road games (seven goals). He has scored eight goals in 11 matches vs LA.

UP NEXT: San Jose concludes its two-game LA road trip when they take on LAFC on Saturday 5/20 at 7:30pm at BMO Stadium.