Photo: San Jose Earthquakes
SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a battle between two of the Western Conference’s worst, the Earthquakes couldn’t generate a positive result in front of their home fans on Saturday and fell 2-1 against Sporting Kansas City.
Facing a team exhausted from playing over 120 minutes in a U.S. Open Cup match just three days before, San Jose (4-17-2, 14 points) interim head coach Ian Russell fielded the same formation he had used in the team’s win against Chicago Fire FC (5-11-7, 22 points) one week prior, placing five players on the back line, with Vitor Costa and Benji Kikanović on the wings.
While the Quakes were eager to replicate the success of the recent victory, they couldn’t find a true rhythm against Sporting KC (6-13-5, 23 points) until it was too late. The first half saw San Jose have trouble moving the ball up the field and creating offensive opportunities, causing it to ultimately go without a single shot on frame, while just narrowly squeaking by on the defensive end.
“I didn’t feel like we had gotten enough pressure on them early on in the game,” said Russell postgame. “Their center midfielders were getting too much time and space on the ball.”
Out of halftime, Sporting KC didn’t take long to take the lead. In the 48th minute, midfielder Erik Thommy — using his left foot — fired a shot that stopped goalkeeper William Yarbrough dead in his tracks and seemingly caught off guard. Up 1-0, the visitors never looked back and doubled their lead nine minutes later.
In the 57th minute — and just barely staying onside — forward Alan Pulido received a perfectly placed pass at the top of the box, and uncontestedly beat Yarbrough’s effort, taking advantage of San Jose’s glaring defensive meltdown.
After the second goal, Russell adjusted to having four players in the back instead of five, hoping to prevent any additional miscues in the first third.
“Every time that we pressed we were a little bit disconnected,” midfielder Cristian Espinoza said. “That cost us a lot, created a lot of space for them.”
Russell also utilized his substitutes to bring new and needed energy to his club in the waning moments, and forward Preston Judd, in particular, helped the Quakes make the match competitive.
San Jose would avoid the shutout by finding the back of the net in the 83rd minute, as a Judd-led counterattack resulted in an own goal committed by Sporting KC forward Khiry Shelton. Quakes midfielder Jack Skahan had attempted to center the ball to forward Amahl Pellegrino, but Shelton — trying to break up the play — inadvertently kicked it in the net.
“I thought [the substitutes] all did a really good job coming in, and brought energy,” Russell said. “That’s what you look for in bringing the guys off the bench and I think Preston [Judd] was a big part of that goal.”
But despite the newfound momentum late in the game, San Jose couldn’t equalize, even while using Yarbrough as an extra forward to apply extra pressure.
Crucially, forward Jeremy Ebobisse didn’t take a single shot and appeared to be largely uninvolved as the middle forward. Many of San Jose’s chances created by Espinoza or midfielder Hernán López were prematurely broken up, often due to the lack of organization on offense.
“We need a little more as we go, just get more touches for [Ebobisse],” Russell said.
Next, the Quakes will finish their homestand against the Houston Dynamo (8-7-7, 31 points), before heading northeast to play their last league game for over a month against Minnesota United FC. Then, San Jose will commence its Leagues Cup group-stage campaign against Club Deportivo Guadalajara.
The Quakes will attempt to make PayPal Park’s faithful proud on Wednesday against Houston, a side that has only lost one match since May 25 and currently occupies a playoff spot. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. as San Jose hopes for success leading up to its tournament bouts.
Kasey Kazliner is an undergraduate sports broadcaster at USC. He covers a variety of sports, but particularly loves analyzing the Quakes’ prospect pipeline. He is The Town FC’s official beat writer and covers every match for the club. You can follow him on Twitter here.
