10 man San Jose grab late equalizer

The San Jose Earthquakes came to town as the Philadelphia Union looked to continue their home winning streak. The Earthquakes lined up in a 4-4-2, defensively, but on offense their shape resembled a 4-2-4 as they looked to get forward and play direct. The game was fairly slow early. Both teams tried to move the ball forward but each attack was dealt with by the opposing defense. The first chance came in the 10^th minute off a free kick near the corner flag. Wondolowski got his head to the ball but his attempt looped over the crossbar. San Jose looked more eager to play a direct game while Philadelphia was more content to keep possession. San Jose looked to target Simon Dawkins and Chris Wondolowski in the air, and by doing so take advantage of Josh Yaro and Keegan Rosenberry’s size. Roseberry and Yaro were up to the task however, and won every aerial challenge that came their way, forcing the Earthquakes to readjust.

The Union’s first chance came in the 18^th minute. A Sebastien Le Toux cross almost landed for Chris Pontius at the back post. Le Toux’s early cross was just missed by Sapaong, with Pontius unable to receive the bouncing ball. By the time the 20^th minute had approached the Union had looked the more dangerous of the teams. Barnetta found space behind the midfield on several occasions. He unselfishly looked for Sapong or Pontius, making the runs behind the defense. Each pass was just too far, however, and was either cut out by the defenders or gobbled up by San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham. Sapong had the first shot on target for Philadelphia. Coming from a deep position, he attempted to head a Le Toux cross, but was unable to get enough power behind it.

The Union grabbed the first goal of the afternoon off a Barnetta corner kick, his delivery had been great from dead ball situations all day and this time the Union capitolized. Pontius was the man to get his forehead to the ball, and power it into the top right corner to give the Union the lead. Credit should be given to Rosenberry, as he ended up making a block on Pontius’s marker and allowing him to get enough space for a free header.

The Union should have had another in the 35^th minute. Barnetta found Le Toux streaking down the right wing in acres of space. Le Toux’s cross was behind the defenders but out of the reach of Bingham in net. Sapong lunged, flinging his foot at the ball from 4 yards out, but his effort flew up and over the bar. Le Toux once again was able to get behind the defense, and once again put a delicious low cross in the box. San Jose defended well, and Kofie Sardokie was able to shield Pontius away from danger. San Jose had been quiet at this point in the 40^th minute. Credit should be given to Richie Marquez and Yaro, who have done a great job cutting out crosses, and to Warren Creavalle, who has made numerous tackles to halt San Jose attacks. Creavalle’s work ethic has been immense. While one player is defending the ball, he covers space to act as the second defender and win the ball back, which is a role Philadelphia desperately needed last year.

Blake got his first action in the 44^th minute. He started off making a routine diving stop to his left, and capped the play off with a fantastic punch to clear the ball away from Wondolowski, the danger man for the Earthquakes. Blake had a bit of fun at Innocent Emeghara’s expense as the half wore down. The Jamaican international used a simple faked clearance to make the forward leap, and simply rounded him to the delight of the fans.

The Union went into the half leading 1-0, and came of the field as the stronger of the two teams, owning 57% of possession and registering 3 shots with 2 being on target. San Jose had 5 shots, but only 1 of them reaching the target, which was saved routinely by Blake. Coach Dominic Kinnear was unimpressed with the teams first half performance. “We looked stronger with 10 men in the second half than we did with 11 in the first,” Kinnear noted, “we only looked likely to score after the red card.”

San Jose had a penalty shout in the 51^st minute when Alberto Quintero was played in behind, and used his pace to beat Blake to the ball. Blake pulled out of the challenge as Quintero went to ground, furious that no penalty was given. The ref evidently didn’t think it was enough to warrant a penalty, but also enough contact to avoid a simulation call.

A midfield battle ensued for the nest 15 minutes, and though the game started to get stretched by the 55^th minute, neither team registered a shot. Both teams looked to play more direct as pressure was put on the ball carrier on either side. The game spiced up in the 60^th minute when Anibal Godoy received his second yellow for a tackle on Barnetta. The Union almost struck directly off the proceeding freekick, which was headed across the goal by Pontius, just out of the reach of Sapong, who once again just missed the second goal of the afternoon.

Wondolowski was able to get a snap shot off from 29 yards, after a blunder by Marquez, but his effort was without pace and bounced into Blake’s arms. After a string of extended possession in the attacking third, the Union finally got a shot off, but Vincent Noguiera’s effort from distance just flew above the crossbar. The Union continued to knock on the door, when a cross from Le Toux intended for Barnetta was sweeped away by the feet of Bingham in goal.

Things began to get feisty in the 70^th minute, when on several occasions San Jose players believed they were fouled, only for the ref to wave play to continue. Players on both teams exchanged words, though things never escalated further.

San Jose got a golden opportunity to equalize off of a corner kick. Shaun Francis was left unmarked, but his right-footed shot was poor and flew into the stands. San Jose continued to look for the equalizer, this time from the run of play. Once again it was Francis, this time his left footed shot by the left side of the box flew over the net. Salinas did a fantastic job running at the defense to create space for the opportunity, and had been fantastic since coming on as a second half sub.

Just seconds later San jose had another shot, this time from distance. It was hit with pace and power but was right at Blake. San Jose, despite being down a man continued to threaten, and ended up grabbing an equalizer in the 83^rd minute from a Dawkins goal. Dawkins slalomed side to side, and Union defenders fell for each of his fake shots, until he found enough space to slot the ball from 17 yards out. In the end the Union failed to create anything as the game winded down, and the score ended 1-1.