SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Earthquakes fell to Sporting Kansas City 5-3 on Saturday night at PayPal Park in front of 14,147 fans.
Logan Ndenbe struck first for the visitors in the 18th minute when he scored from the left wing off a shared assist by Dejan Joveljic and Daniel Salloi. Three minutes later, Salloi hauled in a long ball from goalkeeper John Pulskamp and slotted it home to double SKC’s advantage. In the 24th minute, Shapi Suleymanov found Manu García in the box, who promptly finished the through ball to make it 3-0.
San Jose pulled one back in the 30th minute when defender Rodrigues dribbled deep into the attacking third and his through ball from the right wing was finished by a streaking Josef Martínez in the box. The Quakes drew closer in the 42nd minute when an Espinoza free kick near the right corner flag was headed past Pulskamp by Cristian “Chicho” Arango to make it 3-2 at intermission.
The Quakes aimed to complete the comeback in the second half, but in the 73rd minute, Salloi finished an Erik Thommy pass from the right wing into the back of the net to push the SKC lead back to 4-2. Thommy added a fifth for SKC in the 85th minute off a Manu Garcia feed. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, the Quakes drew a penalty and Arango converted from the spot for the final 5-3 margin.
The Black and Blue will now travel to Columbus, Ohio next Saturday, April 26, to take on the Columbus Crew. Kickoff from Lower.com Field will take place at 4:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (English/Spanish), as well as on local radio via KSFO 810 AM (English) and 1370 AM La Kaliente (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes move to 27-33-10 all-time vs. Sporting KC (91 GF, 99 GA), with an 18-9-8 (53 GF, 40 GA) record at home. Tonight’s result evens the season series. In their last meeting back on March 1 in Kansas City, Kansas, the Quakes won 2-1 for their first road win over SKC since Aug. 19, 2015.
Quakes team captain Cristian Espinoza extended his consecutive games streak—a club record and the longest active run in MLS—to 118, third on the league’s all-time list.
The Quakes regained their spot atop the MLS team goals leaderboard after scoring three more to run their total to 19, two more than Vancouver. San Jose is also No. 1 in expected goals at 22.57, ahead of Vancouver’s 22.35.
Josef Martínez’s 30th-minute goal was his fifth of the season and 121st in his MLS career, extending his lead among all active players. He currently stands sixth all-time in MLS history. Martínez also now has six goal contributions in just five meetings with SKC (4g/2a).
Rodrigues’ assist on Josef Martínez’s 30th-minute goal was his first of the season and fourth of his career in MLS play.
Chicho Arango’s 42nd-minute and 94th-minute goals were his fifth and team-leading sixth of the season, as well as his 58th and 59th of his MLS career. Arango now has 10 goal contributions in nine MLS regular-season matches against SKC (7g/3a).
Cristian Espinoza’s assist on Chicho Arango’s 42nd-minute goal was his sixth of the season—tied for the league lead with Charlotte FC’s Pep Biel—and 77th of his career in MLS play, extending his club record. Espinoza also continues to lead MLS in key passes with 36, five more than Colorado’s Djordje Mihailovic (31).
Goalkeeper Earl Edwards Jr. and defender Daniel Munie made their first starts of the season.
Max Floriani made his MLS and Quakes debut in the 88th minute, coming on for Rodrigues.
San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 5 Sporting Kansas City
Saturday, April 19, 2025 – PayPal Park; San Jose, Calif.
Weather: 60°F Clear
Attendance: 14,147
Match Officials:
Referee: Joe Dickerson
AR1: Chris Elliot
AR2: Kevin Lock
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Tom Supple
4th Official: Brandon Stevis
Scoring Summary:
SKC (0-1) – Logan Ndenbe (Dejan Joveljic, Daniel Salloi) 18’
SKC (0-2) – Daniel Salloi (John Pulskamp) 21’
SKC (0-3) – Manu Garcia (Shapi Suleymanov) 24’
SJ (1-3) – Josef Martínez (Rodrigues) 30’
SJ (2-3) – Cristian “Chicho” Arango (Cristian Espinoza) 42’
SKC (2-4) – Daniel Salloi (Erik Thommy, Manu García) 73’
SKC (2-5) – Erik Thommy (Manu García) 85’
SJ (3-5) – Cristian “Chicho” Arango (penalty) 90+4’
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Mark-Anthony Kaye (caution) 36’
SKC – Logan Ndenbe (caution) 41’
SJ – Rodrigues (caution) 52’
SKC – John Pulskamp (caution) 90+2’
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Earl Edwards Jr. (GK); Rodrigues (Max Floriani 88’), Daniel Munie, Dave Romney; Vítor Costa (Ousseni Bouda 78’), Mark-Anthony Kaye (Ian Harkes 46’), Beau Leroux (Preston Judd 81’), Niko Tsakiris (Amahl Pellegrino 78’), Cristian Espinoza (C); Cristian “Chicho” Arango, Josef Martínez.
Substitutes not used: Francesco Montali (GK), Nick Lima, Reid Roberts, Jamar Ricketts.
POSS.: 63.2%; SHOTS: 22; SOG: 6; CORNERS: 6; OFFSIDES: 7; SAVES: 0; FOULS: 13; xG: 4.2
SPORTING KANSAS CITY: John Pulskamp (GK); Khiry Shelton, Jansen Miller, Logan Ndenbe, Joaquin Fernandez (Robert Voloder 45+2’); Nemanja Radoja (Zorhan Bassong 67’), Jacob Bartlett, Manu García (Memo Rodriguez 90+1’); Daniel Salloi (C), Shapi Suleymanov (Erik Thommy 68’), Dejan Joveljic (William Agada 90+1’).
Substitutes not used: Ryan Schewe (GK), Stephen Afrifa, Andrew Brody, Tim Leibold.
POSS.: 36.8%; SHOTS: 8; SOG: 5; CORNERS: 0; OFFSIDES: 2; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 15; xG: 1.9
EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
On the early first-half deficit:
“You concede three goals in the first 30 minutes; you don't deserve to win. I give our team a lot of credit. We got it to 3-2 at halftime. I felt we were in position to win the game, but we continued to make some errors that were costly in the second half. Overall, it's a poor performance on our part. There's no two ways about it. ... We were poor today. Give our opponent credit. They played hard. They converted the opportunities that were there. They deserve a lot of credit.”
On making costly mistakes in defense:
“Some players played pretty poorly tonight and made some big mistakes. I’ll take the responsibility for that. Those particular players are not going to step on the field again unless they can get it right and be more consistent in their play. We made some mistakes that I think cost us for sure.”
On the team’s inconsistent performance:
“You want consistency. You prefer to have players at this kind of level (makes straight-line motion with hand from left to right) as opposed to this (makes up and down motion with hand). We still have players that operate this way—very good, not good, very good, not good. That's not good. We need more consistency from the individuals in the team. That's something we've actually addressed. We need to be a smart team.”
EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER IAN HARKES
On where tonight’s game falls in relation to the rest of the season so far:
“There was kind of a good spark in terms of the season and how we started, and you know there's bumps up and down in the road, but a game like tonight, you never want to see happen. ... We have to bounce back. We know that the mistakes were unacceptable, and you can't have that.”
On the team falling behind early and the comeback falling just short:
“I think we need to look at ourselves in terms of responsibility, the team and the mentality going into it. Because, like you said, seeing the way we were playing, the way we came back in the in the first half, it was just a classic way-too-late situation of where the game gets going and the players start to pick themselves up, but it's already too late. We shouldn't wait ‘til it’s 3-0 down to kind of have a kick in the butt, in terms of getting our mentality right. So we have to look at ourselves in the mirror. Every single person has to stand up, and try and be better.”
On adapting to injuries and stepping up collectively ahead of next Saturday’s game in Columbus:
“Yeah, it's a responsibility of everyone on the team. You have to step up and the next guy up. When these things happen, injuries are going to happen. We don't want them to, especially to top guys, but the next one has to step up and perform better. And I think again, it's a mentality thing, and it doesn't get any easier. We're going to Columbus Crew, and they're flying as a team and as a whole culture and club. So it's going to be tough, but not impossible, and we have to get a desperate kind of three points now.”
