April 05, 2015: San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski pushes Real Salt Lake midfielder Javier Morales after a free kick is called near the San Jose Earthquakes box in the first meeting between the teams this season. Photo credit John Hefti.
It’s do or die now for the San Jose Earthquakes as they return home to face Real Salt Lake in hopes of keeping their playoff chances alive. San Jose’s trip to New York City ended in disappointment as the Quakes gave up 3 goals in the second half and had their comeback bid come up a goal short of a draw. With 4 games left, the Quakes can’t afford to drop any more points in a very tight Western Conference race, especially to a RSL squad 2 points behind. Both teams need a win to keep a realistic chance of making the playoffs, making this a crucial match in the playoff race.
San Jose needs the defense to come through after giving up 7 second half goals in the last 4 matches, a run of games where the team has only managed 2 points. San Jose gave up the lead in the first 3 games and can’t afford to give up another lead to Real. It looks like Victor Bernardez will be returning to the lineup to help the defense but he’ll simply be replacing Clarence Goodson who will be serving a suspension for card accumulation. Fatai Alashe has done well stepping in for Bernardez and will really need to do the same against RSL if the Quakes want to get a win.
Looking at the scoreline of the NYC game and the fact that San Jose had to go down 3 goals before they could score, it’s easy to think that the offense stalled and sputtered against New York. Watching the game tells a different story of keeper Josh Saunders making numerous saves early and late in the match to keep his team in the match. The truth is that the offense looked more dangerous than it has in the 3 previous games and if it wasn’t for a few missed opportunities or Saunders’ fantastic play, it’s highly likely that San Jose gets at least a point on the road. The Quakes will have to figure out how to transfer that road success to Avaya Stadium though as the team has scored 9 more goals on the road than they have at home.
Real Salt Lake come in to San Jose on the back of wins at Houston and a 3-0 win against LA at home. With 5 games left to play they’ll need to add to the winning streak to stay alive in the playoff hunt. Their -16 road goal differential makes the task look tough for the visitors but Real has already won once this year at Avaya Stadium and has taken 4 points from the first 2 meetings this season. Devon Sandoval and Javier Morales are plenty capable of beating defenses as they showed against the Galaxy and if they can lose one of the Quakes defenders they could find themselves with a lead. Most importantly though, Real needs to keep themselves in the match as long as possible and try and force the Quakes into giving up more late goals.
With both teams fighting to secure the final playoff spot in the West, this could be a game that comes down to who wants it more. San Jose has definitely shown at times that they can compete with and beat the best teams in the league but their lack of consistency has put them just out of the playoffs. If the team plans on making the playoffs and or making a run towards MLS Cup, Sunday’s match will have to be the starting point. Sporting Kansas City has shown signs of weakness lately and so have the Portland Timbers, leaving the door open for another team to sneak into the postseason. If San Jose wants to be that team, they have to take advantage of the chances put in front of them and with tough matches against Vancouver and FC Dallas on the horizon, the margin for error is minimal. A loss for either team will likely mean the end of their playoff chances.
The match will be nationally broadcast on Fox Sports 1 at 4pm PDT on Sunday, September 27th from Avaya Stadium in San Jose.
