CARSON, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the LA Galaxy 3-2 on Wednesday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Tonight’s win sees the Quakes earn their first road victory of the season and improve to 5-3-4 in MLS play under interim head coach Alex Covelo. The victory also sees San Jose earn back-to-back road wins over the LA Galaxy for the first time in the storied rivalry.
The Earthquakes jumped out to an early lead when Cristian Espinoza converted a penalty kick in the 13th minute. Moments after the ensuing kickoff, Jeremy Ebobisse doubled the team’s advantage with a right-footed shot from inside the 18-yard box. San Jose then pushed their lead to 3-0 in the 40th minute when Marcos Lopez played a give-and-go with Benji Kikanović, eluded goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, and scored from a narrow angle along the touchline.
The LA Galaxy began their comeback attempt with a goal by Dejan Joveljic just minutes into the second half before Joveljic added a second in the 88th minute. Quakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, Major League Soccer’s saves leader, made a season-high eight saves to close out the victory for San Jose.
The Earthquakes will now return to San Jose to host Houston Dynamo FC on Sunday, July 17. The match will kick off from PayPal Park at 6:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on NBC Sports California, KNBR 1050 (English), and 1370 KZSF (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes currently hold a 5-7-7 record (22 pts.) during the 2022 MLS regular season.
San Jose is now 28-34-16 all-time vs. the LA Galaxy, including a 10-22-6 away record.
Tonight’s result sees the Quakes earn back-to-back road wins against LA for the first time in club history. The Quakes have also now won four of their last six road matches against the LA Galaxy dating back to 2017.
The Quakes scored three goals in the first half against the LA Galaxy for the first time since April 7, 2001 (W 3-2). The last time the Earthquakes scored three goals in the first half of any road match was on Aug. 19, 2015 against Sporting Kansas City (W 5-0).
The last three times San Jose has held a 3-0 lead at any point in a road match have all been against LA (W 3-2 on July 13, 2022; W 4-0 on Oct. 14, 2020; W 3-0 on Aug. 27, 2017).
The Earthquakes are now 5-3-4 in MLS play under interim head coach Alex Covelo. The team’s three losses under Covelo were road games against NYCFC, LAFC and RSL, who have a combined home record of 21-2-8.
Forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored his 11th goal of the season and his 38th goal of his MLS career. He ranks tied for second in MLS with 11 goals this season and has now tied his single-season career-high in goals.
Midfielder Cristian Espinoza scored his fifth goal of the season and his 13th goal of his MLS career.
Defender Marcos Lopez scored his first goal of the season and fourth goal of his MLS career.
Midfielder Jamiro Monteiro tallied an assist on Ebobisse’s goal, marking his seventh assist of the season and 28th assist of his MLS career. He is now two assists away from his career-high in 2019 (9).
Forward Benji Kikanović tallied an assist on Lopez’s goal, marking his second assist of the season and third assist of his MLS career.
Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski made a season-high eight saves, two shy of his career-high (10).
MATCH INFORMATION
2022 MLS Regular Season
LA Galaxy 2 – 3 San Jose Earthquakes
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 – Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif.
Attendance: 18,453
Man of the Match: Jeremy Ebobisse
Scoring Summary:
SJ (1-0) – Cristian Espinoza (penalty) 13’
SJ (2-0) – Jeremy Ebobisse (Jamiro Monteiro) 14’
SJ (3-0) – Marcos Lopez (Benji Kikanović) 40’
LA (3-1) – Dejan Joveljic (Kevin Cabral, Efrain Alvarez) 48’
LA (3-2) – Dejan Joveljic (Douglas Costa) 88’
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Samuel Grandsir (caution) 33’
SJ – Marcos Lopez (caution) 41’
LA GALAXY: Jonathan Bond; Julian Araujo, Derrick Williams, Sega Coulibaly, Raheem Edwards (Chase Gasper 46), Rayan Raveloson, Victor Vazquez (C) (Kevin Cabral 46), Efrain Alvarez, Daniel Aguirre (Sacha Kljestan 69), Samuel Grandsir (Douglas Costa 46), Dejan Joveljic.
Substitutes not used: Nick Depuy, Preston Judd, Jonathan Klinsmann, Kelvin Leerdam, Eriq Zavaleta.
SHOTS: 25; SHOTS ON GOAL: 10; FOULS: 13; CORNER KICKS: 11; SAVES: 1
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: JT Marcinkowski; Marcos Lopez, Tanner Beason, Nathan, Paul Marie (Tommy Thompson 78); Eric Remedi (Jan Gregus 63), Jamiro Monteiro, Jackson Yueill (C); Benji Kikanović (Shea Salinas 62), Jeremy Ebobisse (Jack Skahan 90), Cristian Espinoza (Cade Cowell 63).
Substitutes not used: Oskar Ågren, Matt Bersano, Ousseni Bouda, Niko Tsakiris.
SHOTS: 11; SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; FOULS: 4; CORNER KICKS: 8; SAVES: 8
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX COVELO
On the 3-0 lead in the first half and adjusting to the remainder of the match:
“I think we played two different games today, one first half where we played amazing, one of the best halves that we have played during this season. Then in the second half I believed it was important to break that barrier physiologically. It’s our first win [on the road]. Yes, we were up 3-0 and played amazing, the Galaxy though made some substitutions right away in the second half and scored early. We knew that we had to suffer. We said at the beginning, we need to enjoy it to win it and suffer to win it. We suffered but we got the three points today. In the second half though I think we suffered too much and stopped playing a little bit.”
On what stood out in tonight’s performance and building off of this win:
“The players are the most important people playing here. They started with a lot of personality, we were able to circulate the ball and get in from behind. We were able to find and get in those pockets that the Galaxy allowed us to play in. Each game is different, and we have to prepare for the next one against Houston Dynamo FC. Sometimes we will be able to play like that and other times we will suffer a little bit more, but we need to try to play the way we did in the first half. In the second half, they [LA Galaxy] pushed us and we had JT [Marcinkowski] come up with those amazing saves again today. He is growing a lot and is also us defending crosses into the box. Tonight was phycological, it was important to get this victory.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD JEREMY EBOBISSE
On his thoughts on tonight’s match:
“I think the offensive transitions were sharp and people were decisive when it came time to make decisions, whether it was the decision to press out of our shape, the decision to engage a defender in the box, like in Benji [Kikanović]’s case, or whether Jamiro [Monteiro]’s pass and the weight of that pass understanding what was around him. I don’t think our buildup in the first half was where it’s been in other games. We struggled to break certain types of lines. But as team, our defensive line was excellent in the first half and made it difficult for them to play out and ultimately resulted in some good chances and some good combination of play throughout that half. Second half was a different story, but you know that when you are on the road against this team [LA Galaxy], that’s a better team than others, you know that they’re going to try to lead an onslaught opening up that second half. To concede a goal as early as we did was challenging and made it a little bit more difficult than we wanted, but I thought we managed the minute 60, 80, 83 pretty well, we started to suck some of the life out of the game to give them life again in the 85th minute when it was not what we needed but it’s a character moment for this team. I’ve seen this team come back from behind so many times about how many times we have seen us maintain the lead, no matter how secure we’re on the road, not many times since I’ve been here and definitely none this year. So it’s a step forward to build off from.”
On the coaching staff’s recent impact on the team:
“I think Alex [Covelo] and the coaching staff have worked really hard to put us in this position and they have given us license to go out and express ourselves, kind of caring on the foundation that was built on this club and it’s something that we appreciate. They are demanding but that’s only because they understand what we can do and achieve how high we can climb. For him to note our personality tonight is energizing, especially when we look at some key fixtures coming up. But the respect has to go back to the coaching staff because they have put in a ton of work and it’s been hard, it’s never easy coming in and transitioning, but we have been ready in basically every game we’ve played. It’s one step along the way, hopefully an energizing one, one that leads to more wins on the road and more security at home and then we’ll see where we can go from there. It’s one step at a time for myself, for the team, for us as individuals. We can’t get caught up in the success of tonight. We have work to do.”
