It turns out that the insertion of attack-minded Dwayne De Rosario into the center of the San Jose Earthquakes midfield was just the spark the team needed - defensively.
In San Jose's 3-2 victory Saturday night at home against Kansas City, De Rosario, who also managed to find time to notch the game-winning goal with a brilliant strike in the 57th minute, was instrumental in helping the team hold the lead down the stretch. By holding possession and showing patience, De Rosario and the Quakes were able to hold their advantage with scarcely an incident down the stretch.
In recent weeks, the Earthquakes have turned a 2-0 lead into a 2-2 draw, given up a stoppage-time goal to settle for a 3-3 tie against Chivas USA and then yielded yet another stoppage-time goal in a 2-1 loss at Chicago. However, not only did the Quakes prevent Kansas City from erasing their 3-2 lead, the Wizards never really came close to scoring after goalkeeper Pat Onstad turned away Josh Wolff's penalty kick in the 60th minute.
"I think Dwayne did a great job with Danny (O'Rourke) in there slowing down the play, knocking it around and moving it from side to side," said San Jose forward Brian Ching. "I think that was the difference - he came in to do a job and he did it well."
Of course, De Rosario was inserted into the starting lineup for much more than his late-game possession skills.
"I thought Dwayne was very effective today in his new role," San Jose head coach Dominic Kinnear said after the game. "We saw in the Kansas City video against [the MetroStars] that sometimes when you held good possession, a soft pocket developed between their back four and their middle two midfielders. We felt it was something Dwayne could exploit by running off into the space facing the goal."
De Rosario did just that in the 57th minute, taking a short pass from Brian Ching, and running left to right across the field before unloading a 25-yard right-footed shot that ticked in off the left post.
"He brings a lot of creativity to the field - he gives a lot of misdirection and makes it easier for us forwards," said Ching. "I'm sure he's going to get a look there next week - we won and he did his job."
In doing so, De Rosario helped erase the painful memories of the first three games of the season for the club. Of course, all is not completely forgotten.
"Over the four games we could have definitely had more points on the board," said Kinnear, "but the way things have happened, it could have been easy to put their heads down - especially with the goal that Kansas City scored so early tonight."
After falling behind 1-0 in the fifth minute on what Mullan described as a "slop goal," the Quakes responded with a goal by Ronald Cerritos in the 14th minute. When faced with a 2-1 deficit on a Chris Klein goal in the 34th minute, San Jose came back yet again with Ching's goal just six minutes later.
"We had a couple of defensive lapses in the previous games - we've shown we can score goals and come back, but we weren't able to kill the game off," said Mullan. "When we got up this time, we made a conscious effort to kill the game off."
San Jose needed a big save on the Wolff penalty kick by Onstad, who made a lunging save, tipping the ball off the crossbar. From that point on, the Earthquakes were able to move the ball around and hold firm in the back when needed.
"We were good at keeping the ball late in the game, which tires them out a little and keeps them out of their flow," said left back Wade Barrett. "And when the ball turned over, we had everyone coming back. That was the difference."
Ching-Davis connection clicks again: Ching scored his third goal of the season in the Earthquakes victory, and all three have come off crosses from the left foot of Brad Davis.
"Brad whips in a great ball, so I just try to beat my defender to a spot," said Ching. "Brad's been putting the ball right where it needs to be every time and I've been fortunate enough to head it in."
Just prior to Ching's goal, which he notched in the 40th minute to bring the Quakes even at 2-2, he collided with Kansas City goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi.
"He was saying, 'How does my elbow taste, Ching?'" said Ching, who glared at Oshoniyi for a few seconds after the goal. "Obviously, it felt good to get back at him - that's what you get."
"Brian Ching gets punched in the face two minutes before on a set piece and next thing you know he's the first one putting his head in there," said Kinnear. "That was kind of the way our night went for us. Nobody was shying away from taking responsibility tonight."
Danny Kadah is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
