CARSON, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes prevented the LA Galaxy from scoring for 90 minutes on Sunday night. Unfortunately, an unlucky own goal in the 83rd minute put them on the back foot in the dying moments.
Just four minutes later the Quakes equalized the match at 1-1, however, thanks to a goal from midfielder Fatai Alashe, as the squad's fighting spirit shone through.
“I just enjoy this locker room, because we have that resiliency,” said veteran forward Chris Wondolowski. “It’s nice to have that response. We started at the kickoff and went right down there and tried to get that back.”
Both squads had several chances throughout the match, including a number of shots off the crossbar or just wide. In the 83rd minute, the goalless deadlock was broken when Galaxy winger Sebastian Lletget sent a cross into the box that deflected off San Jose defender Marvel Wynne into the net.
An unlucky break like that could have killed many teams’ spirits. San Jose, however, turned up the aggressiveness. Head coach Dominic Kinnear brought on forward Chad Barrett for a defender just after the own goal, adding another attacking weapon while Wondolowski dropped back a bit to help out in midfield.
“The one thing we did, we threw Chad on right away, took a defender off, and kinda went for it,” Kinnear said.
The addition of Barrett would make the difference. With three minutes left in regulation, Barrett's cross from the left flank found the head of Alashe at the near post for the equalizer, dashing the spirits of most of the 27,167 in attendance at StubHub Center.
Kinnear credited the fight of his squad for earning the point, and echoed Wondolowski’s praise of the team’s resilience.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself, with eight minutes left,” said Kinnear. “You could either and sit there and feel sorry for yourself, or try and get after a goal. And lucky for us, it worked out.”
Added Wondolowski: “That’s what I love about this team. No one put their heads down.”
