LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes fell to first-place Los Angeles Football Club 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Banc of California Stadium. The result sees the Earthquakes snap their four-match unbeaten MLS streak. Forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored two goals and now ranks tied for first in MLS with nine goals this season.
LAFC opened the scoring in the eighth minute via penalty by Cristian Arango and doubled their lead five minutes later through Ryan Hollingshead.
The Quakes followed up with a two-goal comeback. Jamiro Monteiro sent a pass inside the box to Jeremy Ebobisse, who took a shot that was blocked by LAFC goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau. Ebobisse found the rebound to score his first goal. He scored again in the 31st minute when Cristian Espinoza took a corner kick and Ebobisse connected with the ball for the close-range header.
Los Angeles would retake the lead in the 47th minute through Brian Rodriguez. San Jose was not able to find the equalizer in the remainder of the match.
The Earthquakes will now return to San Jose for the upcoming international break before returning to MLS action when they face Nashville SC on Saturday, June 11. The match will kick off from GEODIS Park at 3 p.m. PT and will be broadcast nationally on UniMás and TUDN, as well as on local radio via KNBR 1050 (English) and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes currently hold a 3-6-5 record (14 pts.) during the 2022 MLS regular season.
The Quakes are now 4-7-0 all-time vs. LAFC, including a 1-5-0 record on the road.
San Jose is now 5-3-2 in all competitions under interim head coach Alex Covelo, including a 3-2-2 record in MLS play.
Forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored his eighth and ninth goals of the season, and his 35th and 36th goals of his MLS career. He is now two goals away from tying his career-high (11) in 2019. He now has four multi-goal games this season, the most by a Quakes player in a single season since Chris Wondolowski (6) in 2012.
Midfielder Jamiro Monteiro tallied an assist on Ebobisse’s first goal, marking his fifth assist of the season and 25th of his MLS career. He has now assisted in five of the Quakes’ last seven matches. Monteiro has also tallied three goals and five assists in his last seven matches.
Midfielder Cristian Espinoza tallied an assist on Ebobisse’s second goal, marking his seventh assist of the season and his 37th assist of his MLS career. He is now three assists away from tying Chris Wondolowski for fourth-most in assists in club history.
Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, who wore the captain’s armband for the first time of his MLS career, made a season-high six saves for the second time this year.
MATCH INFORMATION
2022 MLS Regular Season
Los Angeles Football Club 3 – 2 San Jose Earthquakes
Saturday, May 28, 2022 – Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif.
Attendance: 22,007
Scoring Summary:
LAFC (1-0) – Cristian Arango (penalty) 8’
LAFC (2-0) – Ryan Hollingshead (Brian Rodriguez) 13’
SJ (2-1) – Jeremy Ebobisse (Jamiro Monteiro) 16’
SJ (2-2) – Jeremy Ebobisse (Cristian Espinoza) 31’
LAFC (3-2) – Brian Rodriguez (unassisted) 47’
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Cristian Espinoza (caution) 17’
LAFC – Brian Rodriguez (caution) 19’
LAFC – Danny Musovski (caution) 76’
LAFC – Kellyn Acosta (caution) 78’
LAFC – Daniel Crisostomo (caution) 90+4’
LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB: Maxime Crepeau; Mamadou Fall, Kellyn Acosta, Ryan Hollingshead, Sebastien Ibeagha; Ilie Sanchez (C), Latif Blessing, Francisco Ginella (Daniel Crisostomo 82); Cristian Arango (Danny Musovski 71), Jose Cifuentes, Brian Rodriguez (Kwadwo Opoku 82).
Substitutes not used: Doneil Henry, Cal Jennings, John McCarthy, Eddie Segura.
SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON GOAL: 9; FOULS: 18; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 1
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: JT Marcinkowski (C); Paul Marie (Shea Salinas 90+1), Tanner Beason, Nathan, Tommy Thompson (Marcos Lopez 73); Eric Remedi (Judson 84); Cade Cowell (Benji Kikanović 73), Jan Gregus, Jamiro Monteiro, Cristian Espinoza; Jeremy Ebobisse.
Substitutes not used: Oskar Ågren, Matt Bersano, Jack Skahan, Casey Walls, Jackson Yueill.
SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 9; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: 6
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX COVELO
On the takeaways of today’s match:
“To bring down LAFC is not easy. I think that weakened our chances [of leveling the game]. Jeremy [Ebobisse] had another opportunity in the first half that we couldn’t score. Defensively, in the first two goals we started a little bit slow with the rhythm and we made one mistake. We were not adjusting well in the backline, causing the penalty. Then something happened similar in the second goal. The third goal was from a mistake where we lost the ball in the middle of the pitch. But I think that the team, despite the loss, had very good moments with and without the ball.”
On Jeremy Ebobisse’s scoring contributions:
“It’s very simple. He listens, he knows what we want to do. In addition to his understanding of the game, the knowledge that he has of the game, he knows exactly what we want and he executes very well. Since we came here, Jeremy knew what way we wanted to press, what way we wanted to organize ourselves, what way we want to play from the back, what he has to do to help the team to move up, what he needs to do to score. Sometimes he will score, sometimes not. We are working with him individually, just like with all the forwards, using video analysis with Steve [Ralston], Luciano [Fusco], and Wondo [Chris Wondolowski].
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD JEREMY EBOBISSE
On tonight’s match:
“I think LAFC poses challenges that are capable of scoring goals in numerous ways. Going down 2-0 early on in the game is unfortunately a recurring theme that we’ve had this year. But the resilience to get back as quickly as we did speaks to where we are as a team. It’s rare that you are going to keep a clean sheet away from home in LA with the players and the form that they are in, but the resilience that the organization had, that bounced back from those first two goals, was important and encouraging. Unfortunately, a lapse in concentration as a team going into the second half is what ultimately dug us in. We know we play with teams that are attacking their fan bases, that they are looking to build off of the momentum, the energy that they are attacking towards. As the away team, you have to suck the energy out of them, which means keeping a clean sheet as long as you can for that section of the game, those 10-15 minutes of the second half so that they start to get antsy and allowing them to go ahead and really give them the confidence to see the game out.”
On his scoring form so far this season:
“To be honest, I don’t know why or how the goals are coming in bunches this season. I would like to influence more games with goals so hopefully I can continue to find braces, maybe more, but also be even more of a goal threat in some of the other games and help my team out there. As far as the striker’s mentality, we’re going to miss sitters. It’s extremely frustrating in the moment. We’re going to miss chances that may not be sitters but that we know that we can and should score, that we’ve scored harder in our careers, in practice, but you just have to keep going. If you allow mistakes and misses to dominate you, then you will miss the next chance. That’s what has happened to me in the past, and hopefully I’m getting myself to a place of mental strength where the fear of insolate of criticism for missing sitters no longer dictates how I spend the next 20, 45, 70 minutes of the game. You always have the game to righten your story, and today, I was able to capitalize on a corner kick. Hopefully next time we come out and play I won’t miss a sitter, but if I do, I know there will be another chance. That’s a lesson to any attacking player who is going through a tough moment or makes a mistake. There is definitely way more to look forward to capitalize on.”
