SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Fatai Alashe and Shea Salinas sit next to one another in the San Jose Earthquakes’ locker room, sharing an empty stall between them for extra Avaya Stadium storage.
Saturday night, they combined on something that’s been all too rare for the Quakes in 2016: a set-piece goal.
Alashe rose up from 8 yards to meet Salinas’ delivery from the left wing in the 72nd minute, generating a looping shot that Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando palmed but couldn’t keep out of the net. That proved the difference in a 2-1 victory that snapped the Quakes’ seven-match winless streak and allowed their flickering postseason hopes to stay lit through the upcoming international break.
“It’s been a long time, and we’re all very pleased with [ending the streak],” San Jose coach Dominic Kinnear said. “It keeps us in the hunt. I’m really happy for the guys tonight.”
The Quakes stayed in the playoff chase by coming up with just their second goal off a free kick this season. The first was a header by Chad Barrett, also courtesy of Salinas, from a 90th-minute dead ball against LA on June 25. Some 1,332 match minutes had passed before Alashe struck again.
“We’ve been dangerous on a few [set pieces],” Alashe said. “Some haven’t really gone our way. There’s been a lot of saves, a lot of balls cleared off the line for us, but hopefully that is starting to change here a little bit towards the tail end of the season.”
Said Kinnear: “It all depends on the delivery. If you don’t have a good delivery, nothing else matters. Good delivery and good determination. Sometimes in that penalty area, on free kicks and corner kicks, you’ve got to fight for whatever you can get.”
San Jose couldn’t have had a better Saturday; losses by Portland and Sporting Kansas City played into the hands of the 'Quakes, who came up with their first home win since July 16 despite being outshot 10-2 in the second half.
“We came in at halftime a little bit disappointed not to come in with a lead,” Alashe said. “We just wanted to fight together and make sure that we gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game and be able to come away with three points.”
If the 'Quakes can do that three more times to close out the regular season, it could put San Jose in position to make a miraculous run above the red line – if their luck holds elsewhere as well.
“We do feel that we can win the next three, but we know we need a lot of help,” said forward Chris Wondolowski. “We know it’s a tough task. All you can do is just go into our next one, at Colorado and try to get three points there.”
