Marvell Wynne’s efforts was not enough to prevent the Galaxy from taking the lead late in the second half.
By Ivan Yeo
It was a tale of two halves in round two of the California Clasico on Sunday evening.
The Quakes were the better team in the first half against the Los Angeles Galaxy, only to see the Galaxy not just turn the tables on them in the second half, but edge ahead of them late in the match. San Jose however got one chance and made the most of it, as Fatai Alashe’s header enabled the Quakes to steal the 1-1 draw with the Galaxy at the StubHub Center.
“I think we were four minutes away from what we wanted,” Steven Gerrard said of the result. “By no means did we play to our standards. I thought we were average early and lacked a bit of energy and a bit of creativity in the final third. But I thought it was a fair result.”
It looked like the Galaxy might steal the three points in the 83rd minute. Robbie Rogers played Sebastian Lletget forward, Lletget crossed a ball into the penalty area, San Jose’s Marvell Wynne made a play on the ball, but it continued forward and eventually crossed the goal line for an Earthquakes own goal and a 1-0 Galaxy lead.
But in a match that saw momentum see-saw back and forth between the two sides, San Jose would soon get its chance. It came in the 87th minute, as Chad Barrett held a ball on the left side of the Galaxy penalty area, Barrett attempted a cross, it deflected off Robbie Rogers, but Barrett got the ball back, crossed again and this time, the ball sailed inside the 18 and Alashe slipped in between two Galaxy defenders and headed a ball past Rowe far post for the equalizer.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself, especially with about eight minutes left,” Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “The one thing we did was throw Chad Barrett on right away and kind of went for it and lucky for us it worked out.”
In the first half, it was the Quakes that dictated terms, controlling the possession and creating the better chances. San Jose’s first chance came in the 14th minute, when Simon Dawkins crossed a ball into the penalty area, Chris Wondowlowski attempted a shot that took a dangerous bounce, but Galaxy keeper Brian Rowe didn’t flinch, as he calmly stopped and held onto the ball.
San Jose continued to press the issue as the half went along. Matias Perez Garcia played a long ball forward into the penalty area, Alberto Quintero took a shot similar to Wondolowski’s shot, where the ball took a bounce, but again Rowe kept his composure and secured the ball. The third chance however had to be the most agonizing for the Quakes, and it occurred in the 38th minute, as Wondolowski forced a turnover, broke for goal and fired a shot that beat Rowe, but didn’t beat the framework, as the shot hit off the crossbar and harmlessly back into play.
“I thought I should have finished as I had some good looks,” Wondolowski said. “Unlucky on the cross, I thought I could get that, and then the one off the crossbar, a bit unlucky there, but they had their chances as well so it is hard to say we should have come out with three points.”
The Galaxy swung the momentum back in their favor in the second half, controlling the possession and creating the majority of chances. The Galaxy almost edged ahead in the 72nd minute, as Jelle Van Damme sent a long cross forward, Gyasi Zardes headed a ball down and Giovani Dos Santos teed up a shot similar to his wonder strike against New England two weeks ago, as he wound up his left foot and struck a well placed volley, only to see the ball bounce clean off the crossbar and back into play.
