SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Club Deportivo Guadalajara, also known as Chivas, 4-3 via penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw in regulation on Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium in front of a tournament-record 50,675 fans to open the 2024 Leagues Cup group stage.
The Earthquakes struck first in the sixth minute when Cristian Espinoza crossed a ball from the right wing that was headed home by Jeremy Ebobisse. The striker almost doubled the advantage in the 27th minute, but Chivas goalkeeper José Rangel did just enough to keep it out of the net.
In the second half, the Rebaño Sagrado turned on the heat, assailing the Quakes’ net with former San Jose star Cade Cowell causing trouble on the left wing with a series of shots. In response, the Black and Blue’s back line, led by an indomitable Rodrigues, won duel after duel to turn the Mexican giants away after 90 minutes.
However, in the eighth minute of stoppage time, Rodrigues could only look on from the sideline, as he was not immediately allowed back on the field after getting medical attention. In his absence, Chivas equalized in the eighth minute of stoppage time when Roberto Alvarado finished a Mateo Chávez service in the box.
With the Leagues Cup format mandating a penalty shootout immediately following a draw after regulation, San Jose showed their mettle, as goalkeeper Daniel, making his first start since injuring his hamstring in March, saved one penalty kick by Alvarado and forced another by Cowell over the crossbar. Meanwhile, the Quakes converted four of five, with Vítor Costa supplying the knockout blow to send the crowd into a final frenzy.
Both teams earn a point due to the draw after 90 minutes, with the Quakes earning a valuable extra point by winning the penalty shootout.
The Quakes finish Leagues Cup group stage play as they return home to host longtime rivals LA Galaxy on Wednesday, July 31. Kickoff from PayPal Park is set for 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, as well as on local radio AM 810 The Spread (English).
GAME NOTES
Leagues Cup represents a monumental new chapter for North American soccer. Beginning last year, MLS and LIGA MX pause their regular seasons each summer and all 47 first-division professional clubs in both leagues compete in the official Concacaf-sanctioned tournament, which will qualify the top three finishers to the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.
Tonight’s match broke the Leagues Cup attendance record as 50,675 fans packed Levi’s Stadium. The previous record was 41,108 fans, which was set last year in a group stage game between Atlanta United FC and Cruz Azul on July 29, 2023.
San Jose earned their first Leagues Cup points in three tries dating back to last year’s tournament (1-0 home loss to Tigres UANL and a 2-0 road loss to the Portland Timbers).
Quakes goalkeeper Daniel made his first start since undergoing hamstring surgery on March 27, facing 22 shots (six on goal) and saving five. He also saved one of the penalties in the decisive shootout and forced another to sail above the crossbar.
Chivas forward Cade Cowell made his initial return to the Bay Area since joining the LIGA MX side in January. Cowell started and played the entire match, missing his penalty in the shootout. As a Homegrown Player for San Jose, Cowell netted 10 goals in 104 appearances. In his first season with Chivas, the Ceres, California, native has scored four goals in 22 appearances.
The last time the Quakes played Chivas was a friendly on October 14, 2003, at San Jose’s Spartan Stadium. Chivas midfielder Armando Tavira recorded a brace that proved to be the difference as Chivas went on to beat San Jose 2-0. Current interim head coach Ian Russell played as a starting midfielder for San Jose. Coincidently, on that exact date, Cowell was born.
MATCH INFORMATION
Club Deportivo Guadalajara 1 (3) – 1 (4) San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, July 27, 2024 — Levi’s Stadium; Santa Clara, Calif.
Weather: 66°F Sunny
Attendance: 50,675
Coors Light Man of the Match: Rodrigues
Match Officials:
Referee: Mario Escobar
AR1: Luis Haroldo Ventura Chacor
AR2: Humberto Noel Panjoj Chitay
4th Official: Randy Encarnacion Solano
VAR: Melissa Borjas Pastrana
AVAR: Shirley Perello
Scoring Summary:
SJ (0-1) – Jeremy Ebobisse (Cristian Espinoza) 6’
GDL (1-1) – Roberto Alvarado (Mateo Chávez) 90+8’
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Carlos Gruezo (caution) 41’
GDL – Fernando González (caution) 41’
GDL – Antonio Briseño (caution) 54’
SJ – Daniel (caution) 55’
SJ – Hernán López (caution) 72’
SJ – Rodrigues (caution) 87’
SJ – Jackson Yueill (caution) 87’
GDL – José Rangel (caution) 87’
GDL – Fernando Beltrán (caution) 87’
SJ – Alfredo Morales (caution) 90+6’
SJ – Chris Wondolowski (ejection) 90+8’
Penalty Shootout Summary:
GDL – Roberto Alvarado (no goal)
SJ – Jack Skahan (goal)
GDL – Alan Mozo (goal)
SJ – Paul Marie (no goal)
GDL – Erick Gutiérrez (goal)
SJ – Rodrigues (goal)
GDL – Cade Cowell (no goal)
SJ – Alfredo Morales (goal)
GDL – Fernando Beltrán (goal)
SJ – Vítor Costa (goal)
CD GUADALAJARA (CHIVAS): José Rangel; Alan Mozo, Gilberto Sepúlveda, Leonardo Sepúlveda (Fidel Barajas 81’), Mateo Chávez; Victor Guzmán (Fernando Beltrán 63’), Erick Gutiérrez, Fernando González (Antonio Briseño 90+3’); Pavel Pérez (Roberto Alvarado 46’), Cade Cowell, Ricardo Marín (Armando González 62’).
Substitutes not used: Juan Liceaga (GK), Oscar Whalley (GK); Isaác Brizuela, José Castillo, Ariel Castro, Luis Olivas, Jesús Sánchez.
POSS.: 59.1 %; SHOTS: 22; SOG: 6; CORNERS: 4; OFFSIDES: 0; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 6; xG: 2.3
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel; Benji Kikanović, Rodrigues, Tanner Beason, Vítor Costa; Carlos Gruezo, Jackson Yueill (C) (Alfredo Morales 87’), Hernán López (Oscar Verhoeven 87’); Amahl Pellegrino (Jack Skahan 65’), Cristian Espinoza (Paul Marie 82’), Jeremy Ebobisse (Ousseni Bouda 82’).
Substitutes not used: Jacob Jackson (GK), William Yarbrough (GK), Michael Baldisimo, Will Richmond, Tommy Thompson.
POSS.: 40.9%; SHOTS: 7; SOG: 2; CORNERS: 3; OFFSIDES: 0; SAVES: 5; FOULS: 8; xG: 0.9
EARTHQUAKES INTERIM HEAD COACH IAN RUSSELL
On what he told the team after conceding late, which led to the penalty shootout:
“There were a lot of emotions after that. A lot of frustrations with our team, so I had to bring them together and tell them everybody needs to calm down at this point. I told them they played a great game, but we need to calm down and we need to bury our penalty kicks. We know that Daniel was a good shot-stopper in goal, so they did that. I feel like they were so emotional that it wouldn’t have went well if we hadn’t gotten together and talked about it a bit.”
On Jeremy “Jebo” Ebobisse’s effectiveness up front tonight:
“I think Jebo was excellent all night. His holdup play has gotten a lot better. He was really dangerous in the box. You saw the goal, and he almost had another goal. Sepulveda did a good job of getting a body on him, but when Jebo plays like that, he’s one of the better strikers in the league for sure.”
On goalkeeper Daniel’s return after missing four months due to injury:
“Daniel has a really good aura about him. He’s very confident bordering on cocky. So I think the guys rally around that, but again, I don’t want to take anything away from Will Yarbrough who’s been really good for us the whole season. And when Will gets the chance again, he’ll step up and do really well.”
On the Leagues Cup-record crowd of 50,675 having an impact on the game:
“I kind of prepped the players for this game. I was fortunate enough in 2003 to play Chivas, the Quakes did. It was in a smaller stadium but it was packed and when we went on the field, we were the one team getting booed. I got them ready for that. I told them there was going to be a massive crowd. There’s a lot of Mexicans that live in San Jose, especially a lot from Jalisco here. So it was a great crowd. The players would love to play in an atmosphere like that every weekend."
On Leagues Cup being an opportunity to turn the season around:
“That’s how we’re approaching this. We want to go far in Leagues Cup. It’s been a frustrating year, and even conceding late again. It was kind of like, man, we just conceded another late one. But if you look at our overall games, we’ve been in a lot of games. We make mistakes. We don’t score at the right times or miss chances. But tonight it felt different. It felt like the guys were completely bought in, so I think we can use this to go forward and get the confidence.”
