In a word, frustrating.
The Earthquakes had stretches of good play and created a few very good chances, but ultimately dropped points with a 0-0 draw against the New England Revolution at Avaya Stadium on Wednesday night. As captain Chris Wondolowski pointed out in his postgame chat with media, the scoreless draw wasn’t for a lack of effort.
One component leading to the lack of offensive production was an ankle injury dealt to forward Quincy Amarikwa. The energetic all-out attacker was forced from the match in the 34th minute after sustaining an ankle injury. Chad Barrett was the chosen replacement over recently acquired Henok Goitom due to fitness levels and the timing in which he was needed in the match, but Goitom did eventually enter the match.
The result isn’t a particularly great one, especially given the Revs recent form, but there is still a positive that can be taken away from the match. The Quakes earned a point, which pulls them into a tie with Portland for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference – not to mention San Jose has played one fewer game than their West Coast rival. Beyond that, the club has lost just once in their last seven matches (2-1-4), a sign that shows the team has been competitive.
“I don’t think we are far off,” said midfielder Simon Dawkins. “We’ve had a difficult time finishing chances off and finishing games out.
“We need to stick together. We still have one game in hand so it’s not impossible to do what we want to achieve. We just need to stick together and have a good couple of days of training heading into Saturday.”
A bright spot in the match was the play of midfielder Darwin Ceren, who made his second start for the club since joining from Orlando City SC. The Salvadoran was solid in possession, provided excellent defense and made several threatening passes, including a perfect chip through ball to Goitom, which almost led to a goal late in the game.
The Quakes will head back on the road to take on Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, August 27 at 4:30 p.m. PT. With it being the third game in eight days, there is a chance head coach Dominic Kinnear could shuffle the lineup, but only time will tell. Stay tuned.
