San Jose celebrates taking a 1-0 lead.
The San Jose Earthquakes hosted Sporting Kansas City on Sunday with both teams looking to bounce back from tough losses. San Jose was the better team in Portland but left with a disappointing 3-1 loss while Kansas City had dropped back-to-back 2-1 losses coming into the match. Sporting were the aggressors early on but would go on to lose 1-0 amidst a controversial non-call that would have given them a penalty kick with the match still scoreless.
Anibal Godoy made his day a little more difficult, picking up a yellow card in the first minute of the match for a reckless challenge on Dom Dwyer but would do well to be disciplined as the match went on.
Eight minutes in, Benny Feilhaber almost put Sporting up 1-0 with a nice chip to the top corner of the goal but David Bingham stretched back to make the save.
Sporting continued to attack and pressure the Quakes defense, forcing a turnover just outside the box and getting the ball to Dywer in the box only to have his shot blocked by a sliding Victor Bernardez.
Fifteen minutes in and it was all Sporting as the visitors were controlling the possession and finding almost all of the scoring opportunities in the match save for a few counter attacking chances for the Quakes.
San Jose finally got some meaningful possession in the 23rd minute and got the ball into dangerous areas but couldn’t create any chances.
Then in the 25th minute the Quakes got a break as Alberto Quintero created a turnover in the middle of the field and started a 3-on-1 breakaway with Quincy Amarikwa and Chris Wondolowski but his pass was poor and was broken up by Nuno Coelho.
Sporting then countered off the breakaway and set up Saad Abdul-Salaam with a chance in the box but his shot went off the side netting.
Dwyer almost scored again for Sporting in the 29th minute as Feilhaber chipped a perfect ball over the defense and right to the head of Dwyer but Bingham was able to stretch to his left and make a fingertip save.
David Bingham makes a fingertip save against Dom Dwyer in the first half to keep the match tied.
Still San Jose couldn’t seem to get out of their own end and Andres Imperiale’s frustration seemed to boil over, fouling Dwyer just outside the box and setting up a Brad Davis free kick. Davis couldn’t find the target though and his shot would go just wide.
San Jose probably felt like they should have taken the lead in the 42nd minute as a slow rolling cross from Quintero went almost untouched through the center of the 18 yard box. Fatai Alashe finally decided that he would be the one to take a shot on goal only to have it deflect off of Wondolowski as he tried to redirect it on goal and then go out of play.
Sporting had another chance right before the end of the first half as Graham Zusi found some space in the box to take a shot but it was right at Bingham who made the easy save.
Ten minutes into the second half and Sporting had a real argument for a penalty kick as Dwyer turned on Imperiale and was in on goal in the box only to be tackled from behind by Imperiale but referee Jair Marrufo called it a clean tackle although replays seemed to show other wise.
On San Jose’s very next attack Simon Dawkins got a nice pass in the box from Alashe and took a touch around keeper Tim Melia only to be taken down. This time Marrufo made the right call and gave a penalty that Wondolowski would convert for his 116th goal of his career, putting San Jose up 1-0 in the 59th minute.
Chris Wondolowski is now 8 for 8 on penalty kicks in the last two years.
Looking to get back into the game now, Kansas City earned a free kick in the 65th minute from around 25 yards out and again it was time for Davis to step up to the ball. His shot may have beaten Bingham, but it was just high of the cross bar and again San Jose would avoid conceding a goal.
In the 71st minute, coach Dominic Kinnear’s hand was forced as Amarikwa looked to have pulled his hamstring fighting for a ball and couldn’t continue and so Adam Jahn was the man called on to replace him in the match.
Next to come off was Feilhaber in the 75th minute for Ike Opara and then Dawkins off in the 77th for Shea Salinas as both sides looked to make adjustments late in the match.
With nothing seeming to work for the visitors, coach Peter Vermes called on Diego Rubio to replace defender Amadou Dia in the 86th minute.
Sporting had one last chance in the 89th minute after earning a corner and getting a perfect cross into the box but no one rose to meet it and it bounced off a Kansas City attacker and out for a goal kick.
After the game Vermes was adamant that his team should have had a penalty kick on the Dwyer challenge as well as a red card to Imperiale for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Kinnear thought it was a penalty as well but couldn’t tell if it was a red card from his view.
San Jose is now 4-0-1 at home this season as they travel to Philadelphia next week, while Kansas City has dropped three in a row and will have a midweek test in Vancouver to try and right the ship.
Lineups:
San Jose: Bingham; Wynne, Bernardez, Imperiale, Francis; Quintero (Thompson 90’), Alashe, Godoy, Dawkins (Salinas 77’); Wondolowski, Amarikwa (Jahn 71’)
Kansas City: Melia; Abdul-Salaam, Coelho, Besler, Dia (Rubio 86′); Feilhaber (Opara 75′), Olum, Espinoza; Davis, Dwyer, Zusi
Goals:
San Jose: Wondoloski (PK) 59’
Kansas City: None
Discipline:
San Jose: Godoy (Caution 1’)
Kansas City: Besler (Caution 33’), Feilhaber (Caution 56’), Dia (Caution 81’)
San Jose Earthquakes
Sporting Kansas City
