San Jose Earthquakes vs. Philadelphia Union | MLS Match Preview

MLSsoccer staff

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES vs. PHILADELPHIA UNION
AVAYA STADIUM, San Jose, Calif.
September 5, 2015 (WEEK 27, Game #270)
10:30 p.m. ET (MLS LIVE)

The San Jose Earthquakes will put their record shutout streak on the line and their hold on a playoff position in the Western Conference when they face a Philadelphia Union trying to crawl back into the reckoning in the Eastern Conference as the clubs meet at Avaya Stadium on Saturday evening. The Quakes have won four games in a row – all by shutout – after their 1-0 defeat of the LA Galaxy, leaving them in a tie for the final playoff position in the West. Union hit the road following a 1-0 defeat by the New England Revolution last weekend at PPL Park which left them two points out of sixth place and the final postseason spot in the East.

The Earthquakes won their fourth consecutive game – all by shutout – in a 1-0 win against the LA Galaxy on Friday evening at Avaya Stadium.
The Quakes have now not allowed a goal in 374 minutes – the longest shutout streak in MLS this season, and the seventh-longest in San Jose club history; the four-game winning streak is the longest in team history since the club-record six-game winning run in 2005.
Union had their three-game undefeated run put to an end in a third consecutive match without a win at PPL Park, falling 1-0 to the New England Revolution on Saturday evening.
Union won the lone meeting between the teams a season ago, a 4-2 victory Aug. 24 at PPL Park, ending a two-game Earthquakes winning streak in the all-time series.
It was just the second win for Union in the series, in seven meetings all-time, the other on April 30, 2011 at PPL Park, a 1-0 victory. Union have never won at San Jose (the Quakes ending with two wins and a draw at Buck Shaw Stadium).

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REFEREE: Ismail Elfath
MLS Career: 56 games; FC/gm: 24.9; Y/gm: 3.2; R: 15; pens: 16
AR1 (bench): Ian Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Jeffrey Greeson; 4th: Daniel Radford

SUSPENDED: PHI: Cristian Maidana (through Sept. 12)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: SJ: Fatai Alashe, Victor Bernardez … PHI: Warren Creavalle, Sebastien Le Toux, Vincent Nogueira
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: SJ: Clarence Goodson, David Bingham, Shaun Francis, Sanna Nyassi, Jordan Stewart … PHI: Eric Ayuk Mbu, Fernando Aristeguieta
DISABLED LIST: SJ: Steven Lenhart
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: SJ: Anibal Godoy (Panama; 9/4 vs. Uruguay, 9/8 at Venezuela); Sanna Nyassi (The Gambia; 9/6 vs. Cameroon) … PHI: Andre Blake (Jamaica; 9/4 vs. Nicaragua, 9/8 at Nicaragua)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (7 meetings): Earthquakes 4 wins, 8 goals … Union 2 wins, 7 goals … Ties 1
AT SAN JOSE (3 meetings): Earthquakes 2 wins, 2 goals … Union 0 wins, 0 goals … Ties 1