San Jose, CA: After defeating Sporting KC 5-0 on Wednesday night, the San Jose Earthquakes close our their two-game road trip against Eastern Conference leaders, D.C. United. Ahead of tonight's 4:00pm kick off, we take a look at three match storylines at RFK Stadium.
Sporting fond memories: A monster 5-0 win over Sporting Kansas City still dancing in their supporters' heads, the Earthquakes will look for a sweep of a two-game road trip against D.C. United at RFK Stadium in the teams' only meeting this season. United, the Eastern Conference leader, saw its three-game winning streak ended with a 3-1 road loss at New York City last week, but rebounded with a midweek 1-0 win over Panamanian side Árabe Unido in the CONCACAF Champions League. Pretty much everything went right in San Jose's first win in Kansas City since 2004. A big key was newcomer Anibal Godoy's ability to hold the ball and pass under pressure -- often a missing ingredient before the Panamanian international joined the club, and Cordell Cato's ability to pinch inside. Godoy's decision-making allowed the counter attack to spring to life in acres of space. It was San Jose's most lopsided victory since a 5-0 win over Real Salt Lake on July 2012. While a lot of heavy lifting remains if the Quakes intend to reach the playoffs, they are trending in the right direction after back-to-back shutout wins. San Jose will follow its trip to RFK Stadium with four straight home games.
Legend: Captain Chris Wondolowski doesn't come up empty for long. Mini-droughts have usually been followed by big flourishes. Often times, the flourish comes when the team is properly aligned. Against SKC, the team's passing and the movement were sharp, and Wondo nailed a PK and bagged a brilliant header off a laser-like cross from Fatai Alashe. Only a gimme miss kept him from a hat trick. His PK in the 17th minute was his first goal since a 3-1 win over the LA Galaxy on June 27 at Stanford Stadium -- another game in which the Quakes had good movement and passed well. Coincidence? Hardly. Against SKC, Wondo became the league's first player to score as many as 10 goals in six consecutive seasons. He has 100 goals with the Quakes. It's no wonder Quakes color man Chris Dangerfield used a telling word to describe Wondo: Legend.
Shake and Bakersfield: Quincy Amarikwa, a Bakersfield native, now has four goals and two assists in seven games since joining the Quakes via trade with the Chicago Fire. He was a major league handful for the SKC defense, even forcing the PK by drawing a foul. Amarikwa had no goals in seven starts, among 14 appearances, with the Chicago Fire this season. He came up empty on 32 shots with the Fire, but has needed just 21 shots to score four times for the Quakes. He had eight goals in 2014 with the Fire. Statistics don't always tell the whole story, but it's been a steal of a deal so far for the Quakes.
