In a sold-out atmosphere at PayPal Park, the San Jose Earthquakes pulled off their best performance all season and beat the top team in the West.
Pre-Match Notes
PayPal park was at total capacity as fans from both teams (and others) gathered in an attempt to watch some of Gareth Bale’s magic or a Carlos Vela masterclass. As unfortunate as it was for LAFC fans for both to be starting on the bench, it was a sigh of relief for the San Jose Earthquakes who desired to put on a good performance in front of a sold-out crowd- and they delivered.
San Jose Earthquakes Starting XI: JT Marcinkowski (GK), Paul Marie (LB), Tanner Beason (CB), Nathan (CB), Tommy Thompson (RB), Jackson Yueill (Captain, CM), Jan Gregus (CM), Jamiro Monteiro (CAM), Cristian Espinoza (RW), Benji Kikanovic (LW), Jeremy Ebobisse (ST)
Head Coach: Alex Covelo
Subs: Cade Cowell for Benji Kikanovic 69’, Eric Remedi for Jan Gregus 69’
Cards: Tommy Thompson 30’ (Y), Nathan 31’ (Y),
Los Angeles FC Starting XI: Maxime Crepeau (GK), Diego Palacios (LB), Sebastian Ibeagha (CB), Jesus Murillo (CB), Franco Escobar (RB), Kellyn Acosta (Captain, CM), Ryan Hollingshead (CM), Sebastian Mendez (CM), Kwadwo Opoku (LW), Latif Blessing (RW), Cristian Arango (ST)
Head Coach: Steve Cherundolo
Subs: Carlos Vela for Ryan Hollingshead 64’, Ilie Sanchez for Latif Blessing 64’, Jose Cifuentes for Sebastian Mendez 64’, Gareth Bale for Kwadwo Opoku 76’, Eddie Segura for Franco Escobar 87’
Cards: Sebastian Ibeagha 42’ (Y), Kellyn Acosta 67’ (Y), Ilie Sanchez 67’ 79’ (Y, R), Jose Cifuentes 86 (Y), Cristian Arango 90+5’ (Y)
Game Breakdown
Even without their superstar starters, LAFC has a loaded arsenal of potent players that can cause real damage, such as Latif Blessing and Chicho Arango. Indeed, LAFC was the team on top for many minutes.
But being dominant means nothing when you don’t score. For San Jose, that was an invitation to get on the scoreboard first. In the 14th minute, Jan Gregus ignites a counterattack with Tommy Thompson on the right flank. The latter receives the ball and services it into the box for Benji Kikanovic to tap in. 1-0 for the home side.
The fortress was loud and the Quakes were feeling it. Still far from being “dominant”, San Jose was putting up a fair fight that frustrated the visitors- they were recovering balls with an attitude and counterattacking with purpose.
San Jose even started to maintain a spoonful more possession around the end of the first half. Jan Gregus facilitated this by distributing balls into space and maintaining a cool head in a tight midfield battle.
Although San Jose went into halftime with the lead, the second half splashed them with a bucket of cold water with a brilliant through pass from Kellyn Acosta to Kwadwo Opoku, with the latter chipping the ball over JT Marcinkowski. 1-1.
LAFC was not satisfied. Having essentially started their B team, the visitors brought on Carlos Vela, Jose Cifuentes, Ilie Sanchez, and later Gareth Bale
The intensity of the match by the 70th minute increased dramatically. Both sides were battling it out for a long time with no end result, until Cade Cowell came on and blasted in a volley off another Tommy Thompson assist in the 77th minute.
The Quakes defended with their heart, something that was unheard of all season. A disappointed LAFC walked off the pitch with a loss yet again at PayPal Park.
The Implications
Motivation. We all knew Tommy Thompson had it in him… right? Who knows what spirit possessed the bodies of the third-to-last team in the Western Conference, but where was it all season? Defending was always the issue yet today, it gave San Jose the win. With the season’s end on the horizon, San Jose can continue to make use of their remaining games to find their motivation and end the season on a high note, and continue to play like this for the foreseeable future.