ST. LOUIS — The San Jose Earthquakes fell 2-0 to St. Louis CITY SC on Wednesday night at CITYPARK in front of a sold-out crowd of 22,500.
The hosts struck first in the 28th minute when Indiana Vassilev found Eduard Löwen, who promptly curled a shot from the left wing past Quakes goalkeeper William Yarbrough. St. Louis CITY doubled the lead in the 41st minute when a Vassilev free kick connected with Hosei Kijima for the finish. The Quakes picked up the pressure and created more chances in attack in the second half but could not find the back of the net before the final whistle.
The Quakes will now head home to face Chicago Fire FC on Sunday, July 7. Kickoff from PayPal Park is set for 5:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, as well as on local radio AM 810 The Spread (English) and AM 1370 La Kaliente (Spanish).
GAME NOTES
As of tonight’s final whistle, San Jose’s record now stands at 3-15-2 (14th in West; 11 pts), while St. Louis moves to 4-7-10 (11th in West; 22 pts)
The Black and Blue are currently mired in an nine-game winless streak dating back to May 11, when they defeated the Colorado Rapids on the road, 3-2.
The Quakes are now 0-3-0 (1 GF, 7 GA) in the all-time series against St. Louis CITY SC and 0-2-0 on the road (0 GF, 5 GA).
Quakes forwards Cristian Espinoza and Jeremy Ebobisse appeared in Saturday’s match, extending their MLS-leading active consecutive games played streaks to 95 and 94, respectively.
Forward Jeremy Ebobisse made his 100th appearance with San Jose when he entered the game in the 62nd minute.
Both defender Daniel Munie and assistant coach Steve Ralston returned to their roots, having been born and raised in St. Louis County. Munie hails from Maryland Heights, Mo., about 30 minutes west of St. Louis by car. He played his youth soccer for St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC, and later, the Saint Louis FC Academy.
Meanwhile, Ralston grew up in Oakville, Mo., an approximate 25-minute drive south of the big city. Before retiring in 2010 as MLS’ all-time career leader in assists (135), games played (378), starts (372) and minutes (33,143), the midfielder also played two games and served as an assistant coach for AC St. Louis in the now-defunct USSF Division 2 Pro League.
The Quakes were coming off celebrating their 50th Anniversary last week, which included a flag-raising ceremony at San Jose City Hall, a gala at PayPal Park where nearly 200 former players, coaches and staff returned to San Jose for the largest club reunion in MLS history, and the 101st California Clásico against the LA Galaxy the following night at Stanford Stadium that was attended by 40,844 fans.
MATCH INFORMATION
St. Louis CITY SC 2-0 San Jose Earthquakes
Wednesday, July 3, 2024 – CITYPARK; St. Louis, Mo.
Weather: 84°F Partly Cloudy
Attendance: 22,500 (sellout)
Match Officials:
Referee: Malik Badawi
AR1: Ryan Graves
AR2: Walt Heatherly
4th Official: Jon Freeman
VAR: Alejandro Mariscal
AVAR: Craig Lowry
Scoring Summary:
STL (1-0) – Eduard Löwen (Indiana Vassilev) 28’
STL (2-0) – Hosei Kijima (Indiana Vassilev) 41'
Misconduct Summary:
STL – Jayden Reid (caution) 56’
STL – Indiana Vassilev (caution) 61’
SJ – Hernán López (caution) 66’
SJ – VÃtor Costa (caution) 72’
ST. LOUIS CITY SC: Roman Bürki (C); Jayden Reid, Chris Durkin, Tim Parker, Tomas Totland (Akil Watts 80’); Njabulo Blom, Eduard Löwen (Michael Wentzel 85’), John Klein, Hosei Kijima (Jake Nerwinski 80’); Indiana Vassilev (Anthony Markanic 85’), Nokkvi Thorisson (Sam Adeniran 64’).
Substitutes not used: Ben Lundt (GK), Christian Olivares (GK), Caden Glover, Brendan McSorley.
POSS.: 55.7%; SHOTS: 23; SOG: 8; CORNERS: 7; OFFSIDES: 1; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 15; xG: 3.5
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: William Yarbrough; VÃtor Costa, Tanner Beason, Rodrigues (Paul Marie 63’), Daniel Munie; Jackson Yueill, Niko Tsakiris (Alfredo Morales 63’), Jack Skahan; Benji Kikanović (Amahl Pellegrino 78’),Cristian Espinoza (Hernán López 63’), Preston Judd (Jeremy Ebobisse 63’).
Substitutes not used: Jacob Jackson (GK), Michael Baldisimo, Will Richmond, Tommy Thompson.
POSS.: 44.3%; SHOTS: 7; SOG: 1; CORNERS: 5; OFFSIDES: 3; SAVES: 6; FOULS: 12; xG: 1.0
