FRISCO, Texas. – The San Jose Earthquakes defeated Western Conference leaders FC Dallas 3-1 Saturday night at Toyota Stadium with goals from Vako and Jahmir Hyka. The Quakes are undefeated in three consecutive matches against Dallas dating back to April 2017 and are just the second team in the West to defeat them this season (Real Salt Lake).
Vako opened the scoring in the 19th minute, beating Dallas keeper Jesse Gonzalez who came out of his box to intercept the ball. Shea Salinas provided the assist, marking his 42nd for the Quakes, third most in team history, and his 45th in his MLS career. Dating back to 2001, the Quakes are 134-19-40 when scoring the first goal.
Dallas equalized in the 23rd minute through Roland Lamah, but Hyka regained San Jose’s advantage just two minutes into the second half. Hyka has faced FC Dallas three times with the Quakes and has found the back of the net in each of those meetings.
Vako concluded the scoring in the 88th minute, finishing Chris Wondolowski’s cross, marking Wondolowski’s 38th career assist and his 35th for the Quakes. He is now tied for fourth in the Quakes’ record book for assists with Eddie Lewis.
Since joining the Quakes midseason in 2017, Vako’s creative play has led to 11 goals and six assists in just 35 appearances.
The Earthquakes will now travel to Colorado to take on the Rapids on Saturday, Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. PT. The match will air live on NBC Sports California Plus, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.
MLS Regular Season
FC Dallas 1 – 3 San Jose Earthquakes
Aug. 4, 2018 – Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas
Attendance: 17,282
Scoring Summary: SJ – Vako (Shea Salinas) 19; DAL – Roland Lamah (Michael Barrios, Reggie Cannon) 23; SJ – Jahmir Hyka (Anibal Godoy) 47; SJ – Vako (Chris Wondolowski) 88.
Misconduct Summary: SJ – Guram Kashia (caution) 74.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Andrew Tarbell, Nick Lima, Guram Kashia, Harold Cummings, Shea Salinas; Anibal Godoy, Luis Felipe; Jahmir Hyka (Chris Wondolowski 63), Vako, Magnus Eriksson (Florian Jungwirth 78); Danny Hoesen (Quincy Amarikwa 82).
SHOTS: 17,SHOTS ON GOAL: 8; SAVES: 5; FOULS: 7; CORNER KICKS: 0; OFFSIDES: 0.
FC DALLAS: Jesse Gonzalez; Marquinhos Pedroso, Reto Ziegler, Matt Hedges, Reggie Cannon (Ryan Hollingshead 70); Tesho Akindele (Cristian Colman 63), Roland Lamah; Carlos Gruezo, Maxi Urruti, Victor Ulloa (Jacori Hayes 52); Michael Barrios.
SHOTS: 23;SHOTS ON GOAL: 6; SAVES: 5; FOULS: 9; CORNER KICKS: 11; OFFSIDES: 1.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MIKAEL STAHRE
On the game and result:
“It was really nice to get a victory. It was really important to win, especially against a top team like Dallas here, with these weather conditions and so on. I’m really happy.”
On the difficulty of facing Dallas:
“We came here with a lot of energy and ambition to try to play a good game and try to bring back points to San Jose. I think we handled it quite well. We sat back a little bit, but we were still really compact and aggressive. They had some big chances, but I think we deserved the win.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER JAHMIR HYKA
On the match:
“It was a good game for us. We started pretty good, we were compact in the back, and I think we created some chances and we are happy with the result here.”
On playing against a tough Dallas side:
“We knew that they have very fast players, and if we lose the ball they were going to counter, so we tried to avoid that. They didn't have that many counters today so that is one thing we did well. They had a lot of chances, but luck was on our side this time.”
On his success scoring against Dallas:
“Maybe I like to play here. I hope we play more against Dallas. It's part of the game. It was a very good ball from [Anibal] Godoy, the shot was not perfect, but sometimes you need luck in soccer.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER ANDREW TARBELL
On the win:
“We're happy with the win. We came in and fought hard. The team did really well. We dominated, had quite a few chances and put them away so we're happy.”
On the game plan after the first half:
“We were in a good place. Defending well. Only gave up one opportunity, which they scored on, and we created a couple and had quite a bit of possession. We knew they were going to come out strong and we needed to match it, which we did, and we regained possession for a good part of the second half until we went up. Then, obviously, we start sitting back and protecting the lead, but we're happy with the performance.”
On dealing with Dallas’ pressure:
“They were pushing numbers forward, so we had to be smart. Our midfielders did a really good job holding the ball up top, then tucking in to help defend and help the back four. Everyone did a good job dealing with crosses. With the one-on-one situations our guys did really well.”
