The San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo tied 2-2 at Avaya Stadium on Saturday evening. Second-half substitute Jahmir Hyka, making his season debut, helped San Jose secure a point with his 85th-minute strike. Let’s break down how the goal was scored.
1. Switch the point of attack: After Jackson Yueill received the ball from Hyka, left back Nick Lima could be heard shouting for him to switch the ball. Yueill, one of the best long-distance passers on the team, hit a pinpoint ball to the right flank for Florian Jungwirth.
2. Dangerous area: Jungwirth lobbed the ball into the box for Chris Wondolowski, but his cross sailed just over the head of the Quakes’ attacker and both defenders in the vicinity. It eventually fell onto the foot of Quincy Amarikwa.
3. Pass and shoot: After getting the ball under control, Amarikwa laid it off so Hyka could hit it perfectly in stride. The shot took a slight deflection and curled around goalkeeper Chris Seitz
4. Another look: This slo-mo camera angle shows exactly how the ball deflected into the far post.
5. Celebrate: Hyka promised inactive teammate Joel Qwiberg he’d look to him if he scored. He kept his word.
