PORTLAND, Ore.— With a batch of players gone on international duty, the San Jose Earthquakes came into Portland with some key absences to mitigate. But then they lost their coach, Dom Kinnear.
Kinnear broke his foot recently, and was due to arrive in Portland behind the rest of the team on Wednesday morning, before the match. But then he got into a minor car accident on his way to the airport:
He stayed back in San Jose and assistant coach Steve Ralston took over as the Earthquakes fell 1-0 to the Portland Timbers at Providence Park, unable to match an early Liam Ridgewell goal, despite holding a man advantage for the entire second half.
Midfielder Fatai Alashe, who recorded one shot on the night, said after the game the absence of the head coach didn’t affect the players, but rather the team failed to create good enough chances to take a result.
"Our assistant coaches are very capable and they’re obviously here with us every game,” Alashe said. "It’s a little surprising or different when he’s not here, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t affect anyone and we came in with the same mentality as when he’s here.”
A red card just before the half appeared to give the Earthquakes their opening to find the net, but they found just one shot on target in the second half. The Earthquakes outshot the Timbers, 14-2, but landed just three on target. Forward Quincy Amarikwa had a close-range chance with his head in the 77th minute, but Taylor Peay blocked it with his head.
"I think Portland did well to sit in and absorb the pressure and frustrated us getting down the lines and getting crosses," Amarikwa said. "Unfortunately, we couldn’t adapt quickly enough and we weren’t able to get a goal. We created a couple of decent chances that were saved off the line there, but maybe another day."
The Earthquakes were missing striker Chris Wondolowski, their leading scorer, who is with the US national team. Also missing was Simon Dawkins for Jamaica, Alberto Quintero and Anibal Godoy for Panama – all for the upcoming Copa America Centenario – and New Zealand’s Kip Colvey for the OFC Nations Cup.
The absences, of the players and of Kinnear, weren’t reasons for the loss, Ralston said
“I don’t think that's the reason, it shouldn't be the reason,” Ralston said. “As a player, you come out and you’re ready to play. It doesn’t matter. Dominic was there yesterday in the preparation for how we were going to play, and tonight we just didn’t execute.”
“We didn’t play particularly well in the first half,” he added. “We gave away the ball very cheaply."
Ralston said the team had discussed "being tight on our marks,” but Ridgewell broke free and decided the game.
The Earthquakes haven’t won since May 11, when they beat the Houston Dynamo 3-1, although they remain tied for fourth in the Western Conference table.
Kinnear is expected to return to action next week, with Ralston joking, "He’s ‘questionable' for next week. He’s fine."
