The San Jose Earthquakes earned a dramatic 3-3 draw against the Columbus Crew on Saturday afternoon at PayPal Park.
After taking an early 1-0 lead on a Cristian Espinoza penalty kick, San Jose dropped to 10 men when Jamiro Monteiro was shown a straight red card in the 33rd minute. Columbus took advantage by scoring three unanswered goals, including two by Lucas Zelarayan, to take a 3-1 lead into the final 15 minutes of the match.
Francisco Calvo got the Quakes within striking distance by heading home a Jan Gregus free kick in the 84th minute. The two newcomers to the club connected again six minutes into stoppage time, with Calvo heading in the equalizer off a Gregus corner kick.
The Earthquakes will now hit the road for their first away match of the season against the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, March 12. Kickoff from Subaru Park is set for 4:30 p.m. PT and the match will be broadcast on NBC Sports Bay Area Plus, KNBR 1050, and 1370 KZSF.
GAME NOTES
The Earthquakes currently hold a 0-1-1 record (1 pts.) during the 2022 MLS regular season.
The Quakes now hold a 15-20-9 all-time record against the Columbus Crew, including a 12-6-6 record at home.
San Jose remains undefeated at PayPal Park when hosting Columbus (2-0-2).
The Quakes scored two goals while down a man for the first time since June 29, 2013 vs. LA.
Midfielder Cristian Espinoza scored his first goal of the season and ninth of his MLS career.
Defender Francisco Calvo scored two goals, his first two goals of the season and 11th and 12th of his MLS career.
Midfielder Jan Gregus tallied two assists, his first two assists of the season and 20th and 21st assists of his MLS career.
MATCH INFORMATION
MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 3 Columbus Crew
March 5, 2022 – PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif.
Attendance: 12,888
Man of the Match: Francisco Calvo
Scoring Summary:
SJ (1-0) – Cristian Espinoza (penalty) 9’
CLB (1-1) – Lucas Zelarayan (Steven Moreira) 40’
CLB (2-1) – Gyasi Zardes (Derrick Etienne Jr.) 68’
CLB (3-1) – Lucas Zelarayan (direct free kick) 73’
SJ (3-2) – Francisco Calvo (Jan Gregus) 84’
SJ (3-3) – Francisco Calvo (Jan Gregus) 90+6’
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Eric Remedi (caution) 16’
SJ – Jamiro Monteiro (ejection) 33’
CLB – Pedro Santos (caution) 45+6’
SJ – Judson (caution) 75’
SJ – Benji Kikanović (caution) 79’
CLB – James Igbekeme (caution) 83’
CLB – Lucas Zelarayan (caution) 90’
CLB – Jalil Anibaba (caution) 90+5’
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA
On set pieces and how they thrive on them:
“Our new arrivals have good service and are dangerous in the air. Fortunately, today they were able to execute both plays. We still have to keep working on our finishing. Today’s match was really difficult because [Columbus] scored four goals in its previous game. When we were 11v11, we were dominating the game. We played a man down against them for about 70 minutes. The moment we went down 3-1, we decided to go man to man and take more risks. We got our reward for the effort. With 10 players, we had two or three chances based off our build-up play. So, I’m really happy for the players and fans who came out today, and for us as well because we dedicate a lot of time studying the opponent and the club as well.”
On adjusting tactics mid-game and how he’ll approach Philadelphia:
“I understood that the game today should’ve been played with that. Especially due to the strategy of Columbus, this is a system that we already have that’s pretty well oiled for us. We’re not going to get caught up with one system. We’re looking for variations in order to get more results than last year. Today, we thought that the game should be played with that formation. We’ll see what we decide for the upcoming match.”
On substitutions at halftime:
“I think the players interpreted what they had to do well. The game required that we make changes. We had to play in a different way that we spoke about at halftime. I was obligated to take [Eric] Remedi off because the ref was likely to send him off. I was liking how he was playing. But once I noticed that every time he would challenge for the ball, there would be a foul and I saw the red card coming quickly. Being a man down, we added different characteristics out wide. Without so much passing quality and dribbles that we have in Chofis, we decided to play with more aggression and speed for the counterattack. The players did well. I always say the same thing with Cade, he’s a young guy that some day, after having many more games played, when he has that chance that he had today, he’s going to shoot instead of cutting inside. But that’s the time that every player needs to become a better player.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER FRANCISCO CALVO
On scoring his goals:
“This is just not about Francisco Calvo. This is about the San Jose Earthquakes, about this team. I’m happy for the two goals for sure and to help the team tie the game, but I need to talk about the effort of the team. Being down 3-1 and tying the game is amazing and hopefully we can go from here.”
On the team’s mentality playing with 10 men:
“It was tough because we were almost 70 minutes with a man down. And it’s tough, in high level it’s tough to play with 10 [men]. About the goals, I just believed in my teammates, I know they cross really well. If it wasn’t me, I was pretty sure it was another guy who was going to score. Thank God he gave me these two goals and I could help the team. It’s a good point. When we play at home, we always want to win here, but we tied against a really good team. Remember that they just scored four goals in their last game. I don’t think they overplayed us either. They had two golazos from [Lucas] Zelarayan, and sometimes you can’t do anything against that.”
On the team’s resilience today:
“Yeah, that’s the right word: resilience. That’s a really good word. And everything starts with [Matias Almeyda] and his coaching staff. I think the spirit that he transmits, the will, the anger, the idea of never giving up, it all starts with him. We then transmit that one by one and in the end, we move onward with that as a team. I’m very happy for scoring my goals, grateful to God, but this is a job done by the entire team. It’s San Jose who earned the score and it’s a point that we didn’t want to let go, but we celebrate it due to the circumstances. We played around 70 minutes with a man down and it’s very difficult playing like that at the highest level.”
