The San Jose Earthquakes slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Avaya Stadium against Sporting KC on Saturday night, practically eliminating them from playoff contention. San Jose Earthquakes coach Dominic Kinnear fielded a 4-4-2 formation, with Quincy Amarikwa and Chris Wondolowski leading the attack.
Action began in earnest right from the opening whistle, resulting in an injury to forward Quincy Amarikwa in the first minute. Amarkiwa rushed toward the SKC goal, and collided with SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia. The collision produced a horrific injury to Amarikwa’s left leg. He was stretchered off, and Henok Goitom came on as his sub.
The first goal came in the 7th minute, with SKC producing a slick counterattack. A Paulo Nagamura cross into the Earthquakes box found forward Dom Dwyer, who headed it past Quakes goalkeeper David Bingham. The Quakes just could not get into offensive gear, and they experienced some of the worst opening match minutes of the season.
Their offense seemingly sparked to life in the 14th minute, with Goitom ripping a shot at the SKC goal. It was deflected out for a corner, which did not produce anything. The 18th minute saw an Alberto Quintero cross find Simon Dawkins, but his header sailed over the SKC goal. Physical play was a theme in the first half, with fouls called on both teams. However, referee Edvin Jurisevic kept his cards in his pocket. A Jordan Stewart free kick in the 24th minute led to a scrum in the SKC box, but the Quakes could not get off a shot. David Bingham channeled Manuel Neuer in the 28th minute, as he came out of his box to repel the ball from an onrushing Dwyer. Seconds later, he punched away an SKC cross. Defender Jordan Stewart picked up a knock in the 33rd minute, and was subbed out for his counterpart Shaun Francis. The Quakes finally came in the 42nd minute, with Goitom finding a Marvell Wynne long-ball, executing a backheel pass to Dawkins, who had a simple tap-in to equalize the match. The Quakes kept the pressure of SKC for the remainder of the first half in an effort to find a go-ahead goal.
The 2nd half saw the Quakes assault the SKC goal, with Simon Dawkins seizing the ball, bombing down the right flank, and firing the ball toward a well-positioned Wondolowski. Unfortunately, the Quakes forward could not put a boot on the ball to direct it into goal. A deflection off of a SKC player gave way to a Quakes corner, and SKC’s Jimmy Medranda seemed to pull down the Quakes’ Goitom just to the right of the SKC goal. However, referee Jurisevic did not award the penalty. The referee did produce his first yellow card in the 52nd minute, booking SKC’s Nagamura for a hard foul on Quakes midfielder Darwin Ceren. The Quakes’ fast start seemed to petter out after the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, and SKC was allowed to assert themselves. Ceren was booked in the 58th minute, leading to a SKC free kick. The shot harmlessly ricocheted off the Quakes wall, and the threat was put down. The Quakes responded in the 61st minute with a blistering attack. Wondo dribbled down the right-flank, and attempted to feed Goitom. However, the SKC backline got in the way of the pass, and it ended up at the feet of Quintero, who ripped a shot at the SKC goal. However, SKC’s Melia was up to the task, and produced a quick save. SKC coach Peter Vermes attempted to shake things up in the 63rd minute, as he subbed midfielder Brad Davis on for Nagamura. Referee Juriservic continued his trend of bookings, as he carded SKC’s captain, midfielder Roger Espinoza, in the 64th minute.
The initiative that the Earthquakes exhibited in the opening minutes of the 2nd half seemed to return right after that booking, as the Quakes were able to maintain ball possession so that they could string together passes, putting together coordinated attacks to trouble the SKC defense. An Earthquakes free kick at the 75th minute mark, taken by defender Victor Bernardez, deflected off of the SKC wall and out for a corner. The corner kick did not produce a chance on goal. Again, SKC coach Vermes attempted to spark his team in the 76th minute by putting on defender Ike Opara and taking off Jacob Peterson. Kinnear responded with a sub of his own in the 80th minute, bringing on midfielder Tommy Thompson for Quintero. However, the personnel changes for the Quakes did not have any meaningful impact, and the Quakes found themselves down in the 81st minute. A Benny Feilhaber corner kick found defender Kevin Ellis, who back-heeled the ball right into the Quakes net.
The Quakes tried in vain to find a second equalizer, but it was not in the cards. A Quakes corner in the dying seconds of the match involved goalkeeper David Bingham, but even the goalkeeper could not threaten the SKC goal. The 2-1 defeat surely extinguishes the faint playoff hopes for the San Jose Earthquakes. Coach Kinnear will surely start to feel the heat, if he has not already. After the sacking of general manager John Doyle, the Quakes coach might be the next one out the door.
PLAYER RATINGS
Bingham – 6
Cato – 5
Wynne – 7
Bernardez – 6
Stewart -NR
Dawkins – 7
Alashe – 5
Ceren – 6
Quintero – 7
Amarikwa – NR
Wondolowski – 6
Goitom (4′) – 8
Francis (33′) – 5
Thompson (80′) – 3
