The stars looked aligned for the San Jose Earthquakes on Friday night. The team was riding high on a five-game unbeaten streak and Houston hadn’t won a match since early July. But things just didn’t go to plan on this night, as the Quakes fell 2-1 to their Western Conference counterpart.
Coming off their first road win of the season, the Earthquakes good vibes seemed to carry over into Friday right after the opening whistle. San Jose dictated pace and had multiple chances in the first few moments. However, Houston flipped the script after a bouncing ball somehow trickled through the penalty area and fell to Ricardo Clark right in front of net. Just six minutes in and the Earthquakes were already playing catch-up.
The Quakes didn’t give up, even when Houston doubled their advantage at the beginning of the second half. In fact, San Jose responded almost immediately when Victor Bernardez sent his first goal of the season flying past keeper Joe Willis.
Alberto Quintero and Cordell Cato have formed quite a tandem on the right side of the pitch for the Earthquakes of late, sending run after run past the Dynamo backline. Their constant pressured forced a lot of scrambled defensive plays, but the Dynamo always seemed to do just enough.
With the club down one goal, dominating both possession and chances and having nearly 40 minutes still remaining on the clock, the odds were that San Jose could level things up. Unfortunately the odds-makers aren’t always right, as the Earthquakes barrage of late chances went literally everywhere but the back of the net.
Fans in attendance did get a small sneak preview of new signing Henok Goitom, who entered the match late as a substitute. Fans also witnessed Darwin Ceren’s first start as a member of the Quakes and Chris Wondolowski’s 200th start for the club.
Fortunately for San Jose, the team has an opportunity to rebound quickly, hosting the New England Revolution on Wednesday night. The team will certainly be aiming for three points to put Friday’s result in the rear-view mirror.
