After hitting rock bottom last Saturday in a defeat where the team showed no heart or grit in the face of blowing a two goal lead, the San Jose Earthquakes turned to the heart and soul of their club to try and right the ship. Inserted into the Starting XI for the first time in over a month, Chris Wondolowski pulled through with the game winner, as the Quakes picked themselves off the mat for their first home victory since March 3rd, shocking Western Conference leaders FC Dallas in a wild 4-3 victory Wednesday Night at Avaya Stadium.
With his 62nd minute winner, Wondolowski moved within 4 goals of breaking Landon Donovan’s all time MLS record. He also now has 40 game winning goals, one shy the 41 that Donovan had in his MLS career.
The game looked like it could be more of the same for San Jose when Maxi Urruti capitalized on an Nick Lima and Andrew Tarbell collision to put one into a wide open net and give FC Dallas a lead just eight minutes in. Instead of pouting and putting their head down, this time the Quakes responded in a positive way when Vako split the Dallas defense for an equalizer just seven minutes later.
It got even better for the Quakes when Vako bagged his second of the night just before halftime for a 2-1 lead heading into the locker room.
Early in the second half, the game got a little wild and crazy, starting when halftime sub Santiago Mosquera took a pass from Urruti through the Quakes backline and slotted home an equalizer in the 51st minute.
But before anybody could catch their breath, San Jose came right back three minutes later with Magnus Eriksson going top shelf from outside the box to put the Quakes back in front.
“I like that spot, I usually stand from that distance in practice and try to bend it in the long corner,” said Eriksson. “It was a good hit, a nice goal, and a nice win.”
The lead would last all of four minutes when FC Dallas worked a low cross into the box and Dominque Badji was there to tap it home.
Once again faced with adversity, the Quakes dug in and were rewarded in the 62nd minute when the club legend put the team on his back and put the team on the front foot once again, capping a wild eleven minutes where each team scored twice.
“One goal does not make this game, there’s always going to be chances, said Wondolowski. “You have to have that fortitude to stay strong and keep playing your game. Chances will come and it was nice to put this win away.”
Not satisfied with four, the Quakes remained aggressive until the dying moments of the match, and even though a fifth eluded them, the effort put forth in this match was the complete opposite of what they displayed last Saturday against Vancouver.
“There wasn’t doubt between us,” said Lima. “After each goal the team was trying to pick each other up and it worked out pretty well and in the end we got a good result and that’s what we need to take to every game.”
FC Dallas returns home on Saturday for the third and final installment of the Texas Derby when the Houston Dynamo come to town, while San Jose will take their momentum north of the border as they look to extract some revenge on the Vancouver Whitecaps.
San Jose Earthquakes
