After scoring seven goals on the road, it only took one for the San Jose Earthquakes to dispatch the LA Galaxy at home. Shea Salinas’ 18th minute header proved to be the game winner in the final meeting between the two clubs this year as the Galaxy, even with all their firepower, could not recover from giving up another early goal. The Quakes have now won four in a row, outscoring opponents 9-0.
It should come as no coincidence that the winning streak has come at the same time as the arrival of Anibal Godoy. The Panamanian midfielder has been a defensive rock for the Quakes, shutting down opponent’s attacking lanes and starting the San Jose attack. Against the Galaxy, Godoy and midfield partner Marc Pelosi limited forwards Robbie Keane and Giovani dos Santos to only 2 shots on target, a credit to their ability to break up plays in the midfield and start the Quakes on their own attack.
Chris Wondolowski credited the newfound attacking success to the midfielders’ ability to win balls higher up the field. “I think when we win the ball at midfield, in our offensive third then we’re a lot more dangerous rather than sitting a little bit deeper and having to start from goal kicks,” said the Captain.
A lot of credit should be passed along as well to Pelosi, who started only his third match since joining the team from Liverpool. The young midfielder normally plays a more attacking role on the field for the Quakes, and was fantastic in defense, winning the ball from Gerrard and Keane on numerous occasions and slowing down the Galaxy attack for the majority of the match. The two key moments of the match for San Jose both started from Pelosi’s defensive play. The 18th minute goal started from an interception in the final third when Pelosi jumped in front of a Steven Gerrard pass and the pivotal red card on Leonardo also came from a Pelosi defensive stop.
Having played with Gerrard at Liverpool, Pelosi was unphased by the Galaxy stars, “We know they’re high profile players but it’s just playing another team. We just do what we did against [Sporting] KC and against DC [United], we just went out there and played together and as a team.”
It was a complete team performance from San Jose as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since their 2012 Supporters’ Shield winning campaign, but no one’s game has looked more complete lately than Shea Salinas. The Quakes’ winger scored in back-to-back games for the first time since his rookie season and puts his season tally at a career high 3 goals.
Up next for the Quakes is a home match up against the Philadelphia Union at 7:30pm on September 5th. The Union themselves will be traveling to Avaya Stadium after losing 1-0 to the New England Revolution.
Editorial: Earthquakes 4 in a row causing severe aftershocks
San Jose Earthquakes
