SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes and Minnesota United FC played to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night at PayPal Park. The draw extends the Quakes’ unbeaten streak to a league-best nine matches and sees them climb to ninth place in the Western Conference, level on points with seventh place Portland and eighth place LAFC. Chris Wondolowski made his 400th MLS appearance in the match, entering as a second-half substitute.
San Jose opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Cristian Espinoza received a long switch from Marcos Lopez and sent a low cross across the six-yard box, deflecting off a back-tracking defender and into his own net.
The Quakes dropped to 10 men in the 21st minute after Nathan was shown a straight red card. Minnesota capitalized on the man advantage immediately, finding the equalizer one minute later through Wil Trapp.
San Jose played nearly 70 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 men and were able to secure a point.
The Earthquakes will now travel to southern California to face the LA Galaxy in the third California Clasico of the season. The match kicks off from Dignity Health Sports Park at 7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, and via radio on KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes now hold a 5-7-8 record (23 pts.) during the 2021 MLS regular season and are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference.
The Quakes extended their unbeaten streak to eight matches (2-0-7). It marks the club’s first unbeaten stretch of 9+ matches in a single season since the final nine matches of 2012 (5-0-4).
San Jose is now 4-3-2 all-time against Minnesota, including a 2-2-1 record at PayPal Park.
The Quakes have now allowed one or fewer goals in eight consecutive matches.
Forward Chris Wondolowski made his 400th MLS appearance, entering the match in the 86th minute. He became just the seventh player, fifth non-goalkeeper, and first forward to reach the milestone.
MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 1 – 1 Minnesota United FC
Aug. 17, 2021 – PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.
Attendance: 10,353
Michelob Man of the Match: Judson
Scoring Summary: SJ – Bakaye Dibassy (own goal) 12; MIN – Wil Trapp (Adrien Hunou, Ethan Finlay) 22.
Misconduct Summary: SJ – Nathan (ejection) 21; MIN – DJ Taylor (caution) 82; MIN – Bakaye Dibassy (caution) 89; SJ – Marcos Lopez (caution) 90+4.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: JT Marcinkowski; Marcos Lopez, Tanner Beason, Nathan, Luciano Abecasis (Carlos Fierro 74); Shea Salinas (Paul Marie 55), Judson, Eric Remedi (Chris Wondolowski 86), Jackson Yueill, Cristian Espinoza (Cade Cowell 55); Jeremy Ebobisse.
Substitutes not used: Oswaldo Alanis, Siad Haji, Andy Rios, Jack Skahan, Daniel Vega
SHOTS: 4; SHOTS ON GOAL: 1; FOULS: 11; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 2
MINNESOTA UNITED FC: Tyler Miller; Bakaye Dibassy, Brent Kallman, Romain Metanire; Jan Gregus (Justin McMaster 64), Emanuel Reynoso, Ethan Finlay, Wil Trapp, DJ Taylor, Hassani Dotson; Adrien Hunou (Juan Agudelo 79).
Substitutes not used: Osvaldo Alonso, Michael Boxall, Fred Emmings, Jukka Raitala, Patrick Weah, Adrian Zendejas.
SHOTS: 15; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; FOULS: 12; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: 1
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA
On tactical decisions made after the red card:
“When I make substitutions, I am sending a message. The message is that I want to win. It’s simple. The players were great interpreters and we corrected things during halftime. Defensively, the players executed perfectly. We had our chances to score from counterattacks.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER LUCIANO ABECASIS
On the team’s mindset after Nathan’s ejection:
“It was a valuable point with how the match turned out in the end and the fact that we were playing for a long time with one less player. It was clear by the team’s ambition that we wanted the three points because we needed them. The red card limited us a lot, but it forced the best out of each of us and we were able to hold onto the game and create chances on top of that. I think that the draw was fair given we were one man down. They had their chances and we had ours. We spoke in the locker room about staying focused, that we needed everyone’s maximum effort. That’s what we did, and I think we left a really good image with one less player.”
On giving advice to his substitute Carlos Fierro:
“I didn’t speak much with him because we had already chatted in the locker room during halftime. Matias spoke to us, went over the changes we had to make for those of us playing outside, and for those that were going in to play in those positions, Matias asked them to pay attention. Carlos was one of them, so I think it was a credit to him for understanding it fast and credit to the coach for letting him know and preparing the moves beforehand because we knew that the game could happen that way.”
