The San Jose Earthquakes (0-1-1; 1 pt.) will face the Philadelphia Union (1-0-1; 4 pts.) at Subaru Park in Chester, Penn. on Saturday, March 12. The match, which kicks off at 4:30 p.m. PT, will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Bay Area Plus, KNBR 1050 (English) and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
The Earthquakes will look to build on momentum generated from last Saturday’s dramatic 3-3 draw vs. Columbus. San Jose took an early lead through a Cristian Espinoza penalty kick, but a red card to Jamiro Monteiro in the 33rd minute saw momentum swing in Columbus’ favor. Led by Lucas Zelarayan, the Crew scored three unanswered goals to take a commanding 3-1 lead with 15 minutes remaining. The Earthquakes halved the deficit when defender Francisco Calvo headed home a free kick by Jan Gregus to create chaos and desperation in the waning moments.
As the final whistle approached, the Quakes had one last-gasp effort: a corner kick. Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski even made his way into the box in search of late-game heroics. Gregus delivered a tremendous ball and Calvo headed in the stunning equalizer (highlights).
Philadelphia remains unbeaten after two matches, tying Minnesota 1-1 at home before earning a 2-1 come-from-behind road victory over Montreal. The Union played the final 19 minutes of last Saturday’s victory with 10 men after Julian Carranza was shown a second yellow card.
The two teams are deadlocked historically with each holding a 4-4-4 all-time record in the series. Philadelphia have had the better fortune in recent seasons, as they are unbeaten in the past six meetings (3-0-3). San Jose’s most recent victory in the series came on Sept. 8, 2013 at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara (W 1-0).
Saturday’s match was slated to feature Monteiro’s first return to Philadelphia since being traded to San Jose in February, but a red card last weekend will see him miss the match due to suspension.
