CARSON, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes fell to the LA Galaxy 2-1 on Sunday evening at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Forward Ousseni Bouda scored the lone goal for the Quakes, marking the first goal of his MLS career.
After a scoreless first half, LA took a 1-0 lead with a goal from Martin Caceres in the 60th minute. San Jose looked for the equalizer, but the Galaxy later doubled the score through Dejan Joveljić in second half stoppage time. The Quakes pulled a goal back three minutes later through Ousseni Bouda but were unable to level the scoring in the final moments of the match.
The Earthquakes will now return to San Jose to prepare for their second consecutive road match when they face LAFC on Saturday, May 20. The match will kick off from BMO Stadium at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be streamed globally on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app, as well as on local radio via 810 AM The Spread (English) and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes now hold a 5-4-3 record (18 pts.) during the 2023 regular season and currently sit in fifth place in the 14-team Western Conference.
The Quakes are now 28-36-16 all-time against the LA Galaxy, including a 10-23-6 record on the road.
Forward Ousseni Bouda scored the first goal of his MLS career.
Midfielder Niko Tsakiris was active for the first time in 2023 after working his way back from an adductor injury. Tsakiris entered the match in the 72nd minute, marking his first MLS appearance since Oct. 9, 2022.
MATCH INFORMATION
2023 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy 2 – 1 San Jose Earthquakes
Sunday, May 14, 2023 – Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.
Attendance: 16,035
Scoring Summary:
LA (1-0) – Martin Caceres (Memo Rodriguez) 60’
LA (2-0) – Dejan Joveljić (unassisted) 90+1’
SJ (2-1) – Ousseni Bouda (unassisted) 90+4’
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Chicharito (caution) 27’
LA – Mark Delgado (caution) 35’
SJ – Rodrigues (caution) 46’
SJ – Jonathan Mensah (caution) 73’
SJ – Judson (caution) 82’
SJ – Ousseni Bouda (caution) 89’
LA – Dejan Joveljić (caution) 90+1’
LA GALAXY: Jonathan Bond; Julian Aude, Jalen Neal, Martin Caceres, Lucas Calegari; Memo Rodrigues (Raheem Edwards 64’), Gaston Brugman, Riqui Puig, Mark Delgado, Tyler Boyd (Daniel Aguirre 74’); Chicharito (C) (Dejan Joveljić 90’).
Substitutes not used: Efrain Juarez, Preston Judd, Jonathan Klinsmann, Uri Rosell, Gino Vivi, Eriq Zavaleta.
*
SHOTS: 17; SHOTS ON GOAL: 5; FOULS: 11; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 2*
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: JT Marcinkowski; Paul Marie (Tommy Thompson 82’), Rodrigues, Jonathan Mensah, Miguel Trauco; Jamiro Monteiro (Niko Tsakiris 72’), Carlos Gruezo (Judson 72’), Jackson Yueill (C) (Michael Baldisimo 82’); Benji Kikanović (Ousseni Bouda 72’), Jeremy Ebobisse, Cristian Espinoza.
Substitutes not used: Tanner Beason, Daniel Munie, Emi Ochoa (GK), Jack Skahan.
*
SHOTS: 8; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 15; CORNER KICKS: 2; SAVES: 3*
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH LUCHI GONZALEZ
On tonight’s performance:
“I think our performance was not good. We know we can play better than that. Our quality in the attacking third I thought we had more giveaways than we’re used to. We’re a team that’s usually very dangerous in creating more expected goals (xG) in a game like this. It comes down to connections, creations, quality, and volume, putting balls in the box, running in the box. We didn’t do that well enough tonight. Credit to the Galaxy to defend well, strip us, and intercept passes that we didn’t connect. Now we’re running the other way defensively in transition, so it was a frustrating game for all of us. We’re not happy with our performance. Even though we didn’t perform well, it’s still 1-0 over 35 minutes, and then it’s the same score until the 90+1 minute. I think we have to do better, even if we’re not performing well, even if the game is not up to our standards, to our quality, we can still tie this game on time. We can still get a result by putting balls in the box with aggressiveness, winning a second ball and getting pressure on the ball. In all those phases, credit to the Galaxy. I’m sorry to our fans we couldn’t perform better to get a better result. We performed better at the end, we threw everything in the box to score, but it was too late. We have to do better, we want to perform better, and even learn that if performance is not there, can we still find ways to tie or win in these types of games with quality in the last third and balls in the box. We’re going to have to do better than this.”
On the ‘big picture’ so far this season despite tonight’s loss:
“It’s a good lesson. We have a lot of faith in ourselves and in this group against anybody. I know away we haven’t gotten the points we would like, but we’ve competed very well. I would say this is one of our lower performances away in terms of xG. We’re usually more dangerous, have a lot more quality in the attack. We just didn’t get to show that tonight. I’ll give the Galaxy the credit. Their midfield was really good, and they scored on a set piece that helped them win the game. I have complete confidence and faith in our group. We’re working. It’s a tough lesson and I know it’s going to help us get better.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD OUSSENI BOUDA
On scoring his first MLS goal:
“I know it’s a big game. It’s a California Clasico and I know the history between these two teams. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the win, but I tried to come in, do my best to impact the game. I’m happy with the goal, but it’s really unfortunate that we didn’t get the three points.”
On shifting the focus to next Saturday’s road game vs. LAFC:
“We’re going to look at the bigger picture. I think we’ve been playing well all season. Last weekend, we did really well against LAFC. There are still a lot of positives that we can take from that game and a lot of things that we can improve on from this game. We’re going to look at everything combined and work hard this week to try to have a good performance next weekend.”
