What a week it’s been for the San Jose Earthquakes.
Just six days after stealing three road points against LAFC, the Quakes met Los Angeles’ other team the Galaxy in the Cozy Confines of Avaya Stadium. The scenario that unfolded on Saturday night however was almost the same as what happened at Banc of California Stadium last Sunday, with the only difference being that the Quakes didn’t have to wait as long in the match to mount their comeback. San Jose got a key equalizer late in the first half and a late second half penalty enabled the Quakes to complete another comeback and earn a 2-1 result against the Galaxy.
“It’s obviously very disappointing,” Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget said. “At times like these, we can feel the pressure a little bit, but I think we’ve got to stay composed.”
Things started out well for the Galaxy, as they found the back net just four minutes into the match. Cristian Pavon dribbled into the penalty area, crossed to Chicharito Hernandez, who fired a left-footed shot past James Marcinkowski, the shot hit off the near post, but Sebastian Lletget came in from behind the play and buried the rebound chance to put the Galaxy in front.
The Galaxy received a scare in the 12th minute. Chris Wondolowski took a deflected ball and dribbled towards the Galaxy penalty area, Wondolowski took a shot outside the box that hit off the left hand of Nick DePuy, who was inside the penalty area, referee Robert Sibiga stopped the play, and video review was used to determine whether or not DePuy was in the penalty area, which was confirmed, and the Quakes were awarded the penalty. Wondolowski stepped up to the penalty spot, Wondolowski shot right, but Dave Bingham guessed right, as he parried the ball back into play. Even then there was more drama, as video review was initiated, this time to determine if players stepped into the penalty area too early, but after all was said and done, the Galaxy were awarded the corner.
The Galaxy seemed poised to take the lead into halftime, but the Quakes eventually struck back. In happened in the 42nd minute, as Nick Lima took a ball from Cristian Espinoza, dribbled towards the end line before he got off a cross into the penalty area, Marcos Lopez brought the ball down and fired a left-footed volley that beat David Bingham far post for an important equalizer just before halftime.
The match wore on in the second half, but the Quakes got their chance to complete the comeback in the 82nd minute and it would come by redemption at the penalty spot. Espinoza crossed a ball into the penalty area towards Shea Salinas, Galaxy defender Rolf Feltscher was caught out of position and caught Shea Salinas with his left foot, which made it an easy decision for Sibiga to signal for the penalty area. This time, it was Andres Rios who stepped up to the spot and left no doubt on his penalty, firing a laser past Bingham to the left to put San Jose in front for good.
“If you look at the first several minutes of the game, you’re thinking, ‘Wow, we’re going to blow them out, 5-0’ and then all of the sudden, we stop doing what was working for us and we start playing their game,” Bingham said “When you play someone else’s game in this league, you’re going to get punished.”
