SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC vs SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
CENTURYLINK FIELD, Seattle, Wash.
Aug. 20, 2014 (WEEK 24, MLS Game #221)
7:30 p.m. PT (JOEtv/ROOT-NW Alt; CSN-CA)
A pair of teams looking to put difficult losses behind them meet when Seattle Sounders FC play host to the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC fell out of the top spot in the MLS overall table, conceding first place in the Western Conference to Real Salt Lake in their 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon. The Quakes suffered the heaviest defeat in their long MLS history, falling 5-0 to FC Dallas on Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium.
REFEREE: Drew Fischer. AR1 (bench): Fabio Tovar; AR2 (opposite): Marco Arruda; 4th: Baboucarr Jallow
MLS Career: 35 games; FC/gm: 26.7; Y/gm: 2.9; R: 3; pens: 11
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: SEA: Gonzalo Pineda … SJ: Victor Bernardez, Sam Cronin, Steven Lenhart
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: SEA: Osvaldo Alonso, DeAndre Yedlin … SJ: Shaun Francis, Jordan Stewart
DISABLED LIST: SEA: Damion Lowe; Kevin Parsemain … SJ: Tommy Muller
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (15 meetings): Sounders FC 6 wins, 16 goals … Earthquakes 8 wins, 17 goals … Ties 1
AT SEATTLE (8 meetings): Sounders FC 5 wins, 12 goals … Earthquakes 3 wins, 6 goals … Ties 0
2014 (MLS):
5/17: SEA 1, SJ 0 (Martins 8)
8/2: SJ 1, SEA 0 (Djalo 42)
- The teams are meeting for the third time this season in league play, having split a pair of 1-0 decisions. Obafemi Martins scored the gameís lone goal for a Sounders FC victory May 17 in Seattle, then Yannick Djalo scored the only goal in the Quakes' victory Aug. 2 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
- The Earthquakes have won their last four meetings in the series. The last Sounders FC away win against San Jose came July 31, 2010, a 1-0 victory. Sounders FC have won their last two meetings vs. the Quakes.
- Sounders FC also claimed a U.S. Open Cup fifth-round encounter between the teams, winning in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. San Jose's Steven Lenhart (24) and Seattle's Kenny Cooper (26) traded goals midway through the first half for all the scoring, before Seattle took the tie 4-1 in the shootout.
- Coaches record: Sigi Schmid vs. SJ: P35 W16 L14 D5 … Mark Watson vs. SEA: P3 W2 L1 D0
LAST MEETING (MLS)
- The game's lone goal came in the 42nd minute. A nifty first-time ball from Shea Salinas on the left wing found Chris Wondolowski near the halfway line, and his cultured lead pass put Yannick Djaló in alone behind the Sounders back line. With Stefan Frei caught in no-man's-land, Djaló used the outside of his right foot to knock his initial touch past the Seattle goalkeeper and inside the far post.
- Earthquakes goalkeeper Jon Busch was credited with eight saves in keeping the clean sheet, and was helped in the 85th minute when Wondolowski headed a clear header from Chad Barrett back off the line.
- SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch - Shaun Francis, Jason Hernandez, Victor Bernardez, Jordan Stewart - Atiba Harris, Sam Cronin, Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi, Shea Salinas (Cordell Cato 87) - Yannick Djalo (Khari Stephenson 65) - Chris Wondolowski.
- SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-4-2): Stefan Frei - DeAndre Yedlin, Zach Scott, Jalil Anibaba, Leo Gonzalez (Chad Barrett 83) - Brad Evans, Gonzalo Pineda, Osvaldo Alonso, Marco Pappa (Kenny Cooper 65) - Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins.
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Seattle Sounders FC lost a third consecutive game away from home, dropping a 2-1 decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon at Rio Tinto Stadium. Sounders FC are in second place in the Western Conference with 41 points from 22 games.
LAST MATCH
- ï Real took the lead in the 53rd minute. From a freekick on the right flank near the touchline, Luke Mulholland whipped in the service to the back post where 5-foot-2 forward Joao Plata got behind a defender and headed the ball in past Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
- ï The lead was doubled just four minutes later. Luis Gil passed the ball to a streaking Mulholland cutting into the Seattle box, and he poked the ball inside the left post just ahead of Sounders FC midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, who had originally appeared to put the ball into his own goal.
- ï Sounders FC pulled a goal back in the 72nd minute when RSL defenders Chris Schuler and Chris Wingert miscommunicated on a clearance and the ball fell to Seattle's Clint Dempsey. RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando saved Dempsey's point-blank shot, and Andy Rose hit the post on the first rebound before Barrett cleaned up the chance to pull the deficit back to 2-1.
- ï Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid made three changes to the team that defeated the Houston Dynamo 2-0 at CenturyLink Field. DeAndre Yedlin and Zach Scott came into the back four and Kenny Cooper started up top, in place of Djimi Traore, Marco Pappa and the suspended Obafemi Martins.
- ï SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-4-2): Stefan Frei - DeAndre Yedlin, Zach Scott, Chad Marshall, Leo Gonzalez (Aaron Kovar 88) - Brad Evans (Andy Rose 46), Gonzalo Pineda, Osvaldo Alonso, Lamar Neagle (Chad Barrett 62) - Kenny Cooper, Clint Dempsey.
TEAM NEWS
- Sounders FC suffered their third consecutive defeat away from CenturyLink Field, their third loss in four games overall, and fell out of the leadership in the Western Conference and the MLS overall table.
- "With the heat and everything, it's going to be a slow tempo game," striker Clint Dempsey said. "For us, coming here and dealing with the altitude, we tried to manage that first half so we could make a push in the second. Obviously, you don't want to concede two goals, but we tried to fight back, but at the end of the day, we didn't have enough to make it happen."
- Sounders FC had an injury concern before the game started when Marco Pappa was unable to post after suffering a hamstring injury. Pappa had started 12 consecutive games in the midfield and did not feature in an MLS game for the first time since March 29.
- There was a further injury blow when Brad Evans was forced off at halftime. Evans returned to a wide midfield position after starting at right back the week before.
- "There was that little five minute span where we took two goals -- but the first goal was the one that, when you're tired a little bit, having played a game on Wednesday, your third game in six days, that takes the air out of the balloon," said Schmid. "[Marco] Pappa had a slight hamstring injury, thatís why we didn't bring him. Evans came off at halftime for the same reason."
- Kenny Cooper started for the first time in a league game since July 5, partnering Clint Dempsey in attack with Obafemi Martins suspended.
- "We've got to connect to get ourselves into a good rhythm early and to get Clint [Dempsey] into a good rhythm early," said Schmid. "Afterwards, he picked up the ball more in midfield, we changed into a 3-5-2 for like the last six, seven minutes. At the end of the day, today, it just wasn't enough. I still thought we showed a lot of character out there."
- Chad Barrett scored his first goal since June 28, and now has five goals for the season. It was the second goal he's scored as a substitute this season, and his second vs. Real Salt Lake.
- "That's the effect we expect of him. I thought [Kenny] Cooper played well also and did good stuff. We had chances. We had chances in the second half as well. We had a couple of good looks," said Schmid. " … I think when you consider everything: us having to travel, the amount of games we've played, and for us to come back from 2-0 to 2-1 and then continue to put chances forward, I thought it was a good character showing from the team."
- Said Andy Rose: "[Barrett is] a brilliant player. He can certainly be a starter in this league, that's for sure. He brings a wealth of experience and a lot of energy. He's a really hard worker. He holds the ball up, understands how to bring other players into the game. I think his biggest asset for us is just he's a great soccer mind really. He can bring other guys in, he can turn, can shoot, can finish. He's definitely a huge part of the team."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes saw their undefeated streak put to a stunning end after four games, losing 5-0 to FC Dallas on Saturday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Quakes are in a tie for eighth place in the Western Conference with 24 points from 21 games.
LAST MATCH
- FCD opened the scoring in the 30th minute. Fabian Castillo outraced Jason Hernandez to the ball, then shrugged off the Quakes defender's attempts to wrestle him down outside of the box. Three dribbles later, Castillo gently lifted a left-footed shot over San Jose goalkeeper Jon Busch.
- The lead was doubled in the 43rd minute when Tesho Akindele spun away from his defender and fired a left-footed shot from 20 yards that barely snuck past the left arm of a diving Busch before kissing off the far post and in.
- The Quakes drew a penalty kick deep into first-half stoppage time when Matias Perez Garcia went down after a tug from Victor Ulloa and referee Jair Marrufo pointed to the spot. But Chris Wondolowski blazed his effort well over the crossbar.
- FCD took advantage to make the score 3-0 in the 58th minute when Castillo dribbled past one defender, shot around another and forced a save from Busch, but Akindele was there to pounce on the loose rebound.
- The lead was made 4-0 in the 74th minute when Castillo scythed once against through the San Jose defense, stopping on a dime to fire right-footed to the far post past Busch from inside the box. Akindele completed the rout in the 86th minute, hammering home the rebound from Blas Perez's unmarked header off a Michel corner kick.
- Quakes head coach Mark Watson made one change to the team that gained a 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy at StubHub Center.
- SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch - Shaun Francis (Brandon Barklage 13), Jason Hernandez, Victor Bernardez, Jordan Stewart - Atiba Harris (Tommy Thompson 72), Sam Cronin, Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi (Khari Stephenson 61), Shea Salinas - Matias Perez Garcia - Chris Wondolowski.
TEAM NEWS
- The defeat was the worst in the Earthquakes club history, after 519 league games beginning with the inaugural MLS season of 1996.
- "I'm going to be looking at everything. I thought it was a very poor performance. I thought we started poorly, which is unacceptable at home," said Quakes head coach Mark Watson. "Defensively, that game was unacceptable; you can't defend like that at this level and expect to get any kind of result."
- Said goalkeeper Jon Busch: "We've got to throw this one away. It's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed. Every one of us should be embarrassed. If I was a fan, I would be pissed off with that performance from every single one of us tonight. We've been on a roll and that was a kick in the nuts. It can't happen again. It's embarrassing."
- The Quakes had only allowed as many as three goals on two occasions, the last coming May 3 in a 3-2 loss at Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The Quakes have allowed multiple goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.
- "It wasn't our best effort. That's obvious when conceding five goals. The first half was one of the worst displays I have seen as a member of this club, especially on the counter attack. We misplayed that as badly as you could," said defender Jordan Stewart. "It seemed like when we had our chances, they ran it back to score. Even when we were down a couple of goals, we didn't make the adjustments to stop the counter, which led to their third and fourth goals. At the end of the day, we need to evaluate [ourselves] because it's hard to say we played well when you lose 5-0."
- With Yannick Djalo out for a second consecutive match, Matías Pérez García played for a second match as the underneath forward behind Chris Wondolowski.
- "This result was very disappointing. I thought this team was in [good form] and there was a good feeling about the team. To have that type of performance in what was an important game is really deflating. It is one game, we'll look at the tape and we'll dust ourselves off for the next game," said Watson.
- Homegrown Player Tommy Thompson had his longest stint in an Earthquakes uniform, coming on in the 72nd minute. Thompson had once previous appearance - coming on as a very late substitute June 7 at Toronto FC.
- "Overall, I thought the debut went well from an individual standpoint. I was happy to do what I can and I hope I made a good first impression in front of these fans," Thompson said " … Before I subbed on, coach [Mark Watson] told me to go out there, play hard and change the game. I expect to come in off the bench to add energy and maybe show a little bit of flair. I hold high standards for myself and I'm happy to have gotten some time. I want to be a difference-maker for this team and I believe I can do that with time."
