SAN JOSE, Calif. — Besides a couple of Daniel Vega saves, it seemed as if the San Jose Earthquakes faithful we’re going to leave Avaya Stadium with nothing much to cheer about.
But a quick corner kick reaction in the 93rd minute led Danny Hoesen to score off Paul Marie’s service inside the box, giving San Jose the 1-0 victory, and putting them back in playoff contention.
Hoesen came on in the 74th minute for Judson, a move that saw a defense for offense swap. Despite the back-and-forth contest, head coach Matias Almeyda knew the Earthquakes could extend their unbeaten streak at home to eight games. He had strategy up his sleeve, placing Hoesen right behind captain Chris Wondolowski. A gusty one, but a move that put San Jose back into sixth place in the Western Conference.
“I was doubting the sub,” said Almeyda. “But I positioned Danny behind Wondolowski. I didn’t want them on the same line because we would have been accumulating people where there was already a lot of people.”
“That way he would have been free, especially in crosses he would have been difficult to grab,” he added. “We saw we could have won it.”
After battling with an injury weeks prior, Hoesen scored for the first time since his multi-goal performance vs. Sporting Kansas City on April 20.
“The biggest thing after an injury is your fitness,” the Dutchman shared to a gaggle of reporters following his praiseworthy performance. “You have to get back to game level and game speed. In my position goals gives the most confidence you can get. Luckily, it happened to me today.”
San Jose have endured a grueling gauntlet over the past two weeks: playing four games in the past 11 days, yet earning 9 points during that span. The Quakes are now unbeaten at home since the brutal, 5-0 loss against LAFC.
Daniel Vega recorded three shutouts during the 11 day period and had a big time save in the second half to bail out Jackson Yueill from scoring an own goal. Vega now tallies six clean sheets in the season.
“We need to focus on all 90 minutes,” said the Argentine. “We had to work until the end. This kind of game is very difficult. It’s easy when the team scores. You have to be focused because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Almeyda decided to repeat the same starting lineup in the past four games. The Quakes have a much needed rest day after the past two weeks before they take on rival, the Los Angeles Galaxy, on July 12.
“We knew we had this many games, the team was working well,” Almeyda remarked with confidence. “We are balancing the energy. Now we have a day off after a long time and get ready for the game that is coming up which is going to be hard as well.”
