STANFORD, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the rival LA Galaxy 3-0 in front of 50,850 fans at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. It marked a new California Clasico attendance record and the third largest attendance in Earthquakes history.
Vako, Shea Salinas and Tommy Thompson each scored for San Jose to give the club a six-match unbeaten streak (4-0-2) for the first time since 2013. Vako and Salinas also each tallied an assist during the victory.
The Quakes are now 6-1-4 in their last 11 matches, best in the Western Conference and tied for second best in MLS during that span. San Jose is now fifth place in the conference with the fourth best points per game average and are just one point behind FC Dallas.
The Earthquakes now turn their attention to Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field on Wednesday, July 3. The match will be broadcast live on NBC Sports California Plus, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.
MATCH NOTES:
With the win, the Earthquakes are now 6-1-4 in their last 11 matches, the best active 11-match stretch in the Western Conference. Only NYCFC have a better active streak (6-0-5) in MLS. It marked the first time the club has lost no more than once in an 11-match span since the last 11 matches of the Supporters’ Shield-winning 2012 season (6-1-4).
The Earthquakes have a held a lead in nine of their last 11 matches and have only trailed in one. San Jose has trailed for total of 72 minutes in their last 11 matches.
The Earthquakes are now 5-1-2 against the LA Galaxy all-time at Stanford Stadium.
The Earthquakes are now 23-31-15 all-time against the LA Galaxy, including a 17-11-9 record at home.
The Quakes are undefeated in six consecutive MLS matches (4-0-2) for the first time since 2013.
The Quakes finished the month with a 2-0-2 MLS record. San Jose went undefeated in a calendar month that had four or more MLS regular season matches for the first time since September 2013 (3-0-1).
Midfielder Vako tallied his fourth goal of the MLS regular season and the 19th of his MLS career. Vako scored six goals in his last four competitive matches, including three in a pair of U.S. Open Cup contests.
Midfielder Shea Salinas recorded his career-high fifth goal of the season and the 18th of his MLS career. Salinas was also credited with an assist on Tommy Thompson’s goal, marking the third time in his MLS career that he registered a goal and an assist in a single match.
Defender Tommy Thompson netted his first goal of the season and the second of his MLS career. It marked his first MLS goal at home.
San Jose’s 3-0 win over the LA Galaxy marked the club’s first-ever shutout at Stanford Stadium. Goalkeeper Daniel Vega recorded his second consecutive shutout and his fifth of the season. It also marked the Earthquakes’ largest margin of victory over the LA Galaxy at Stanford.
The Quakes amassed 25 shots, their most in a single game since Aug. 16, 2014 (25). It marked the club’s most shots in a victory since taking 29 in a 4-2 win over the Galaxy on May 22, 2004.
Midfielder Jackson Yueill made his 50th appearance for San Jose.
MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 3 – 0 LA Galaxy
June 29, 2019 – Stanford Stadium in Stanford, Calif.
Attendance: 50,850
Scoring Summary: SJ – Vako (unassisted) 11; SJ – Shea Salinas (Vako) 82; SJ– Tommy Thompson (Shea Salinas) 85.
Misconduct Summary: LA– Diego Polenta (caution) 51; LA – Favio Álvarez (caution) 67; SJ – Shea Salinas (caution) 83.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel Vega; Marcos Lopez, Florian Jungwirth, Guram Kashia, Tommy Thompson; Jackson Yueill, Judson (Luis Felipe 88); Vako, Magnus Eriksson, Cristian Espinoza (Shea Salinas 75); Chris Wondolowski (Danny Hoesen 87).
SHOTS: 25; SHOTS ON TARGET: 8; SAVES:6;FOULS:3;CORNERS:2;OFFSIDES: 3
LA GALAXY: David Bingham; Dave Romney, Diego Polenta, Daniel Steres, Julian Araujo; Joe Corona, Perry Kitchen; Emmanuel Boateng, Favio Álvarez (Ethan Zubak 81), Sebastian Lletget (Efrain Álvarez HT); Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
SHOTS: 16; SHOTS ON TARGET: 6; SAVES:5;FOULS:12;CORNERS:6;OFFSIDES: 0
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA
On the result:
“Very happy about our display, very happy for the people who were able to join us and for this organization. Really, this was all marvelous and so was our triumph along with the team’s performance.”
On the team’s undefeated streak:
“We believe in hard work; we believe in this team. From the moment we got here, we’ve believed in them and we will keep believing in them. All the merit goes to the players, who have done a great job understanding our plan.”
On Vako’s performance throughout the week:
“He’s been perfect. He needs to stay on this path; it’s the only way he will keep his position and he is demonstrating that he has improved a lot.”
On winning his first California Clasico:
“I’m thankful for the people who organized this. I appreciate the fans who paid to come out and support us. It was a great match, and it’s always important to win. We know have to stay on this path. We have improved and we should continue improving.”
On what impressed him the most in their win over the LA Galaxy:
“Obviously with the result, we’re very happy. I’m most pleased that the team plays the same way they train. I like that because when I arrived, they were down and now they know they can compete with anyone.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER FLORIAN JUNGWIRTH
On the defense’s performance:
“A shutout is always a great result for the defense. I think we did a great job in the back for the front guys, especially Judson. He helped us a lot, when he cleaned in the midfield, it was incredible. A shutout is always a great feeling for us.”
On the California Clasico:
“It’s a season highlight, 50,000 people, the atmosphere was amazing. When you win 3-0 against the biggest rival in front of this crowd, it makes me really proud.”
On the defense’s unity:
“It started in Cancun [preseason]. It’s a new philosophy, a new way to defend, and it takes time. We saw that in the first four matches, but we always believed in it and now we trust in the system, we trust every player no matter who’s starting and that makes it easy. Like I said, the trust is the most important thing”
On staying focused in a packed schedule:
“I remember the last few years in MLS, when you had a game on Wednesday and the other team didn’t, there was always a big disadvantage. Now, we played better than them in the second half. Remember we did the same thing at [FC] Dallas because we were more fit. That’s a big part pf our game. I’m sure we are one of the fittest teams, maybe the fittest. We are all trying to stay healthy because you can’t play every game, 90 minutes, especially the front guys who are running a lot. It’s important to have players who are ready like Shea [Salinas] and Danny [Hoesen], and Carlos [Fierro] soon. That’s a bright future.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER TOMMY THOMPSON
On the team’s display tonight:
“I think we had a rough start. But from the get-go, we went to Cancun during preseason and established a team culture that has stayed strong through the difficult times and the good times as well. We have to keep doing what we are doing. We can enjoy this night, but we have two more games next week to focus on. After tonight, it’s on to the next.”
On the fans who came to Stanford:
“I want to thank every person that came out to the game tonight. We could hear you loud and clear on the field and it’s the fans that create the atmosphere, it’s the fans that create the energy that gives us the extra push. It really helped us tonight because it was close for the majority of the game, but the fans gave us that extra push to finish off strong. Thank you everybody for coming.”
On defending Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
“Zlatan is an incredible player, he’s a player I grew up watching. It’s amazing what he’s done with his career, but before the game we knew we had to stay close. At the end of the day there’s 11 players on the field for the Galaxy. We couldn’t focus too much on Zlatan because if we did that than the other players could do what they do as well. We made sure to stay close, but at the end of the day, we wanted to stay close to everybody as well.”
