SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes and New York City FC played to a scoreless draw Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at Avaya Stadium. The Quakes held NYCFC, Major League Soccer’s highest scoring team, without a goal for the first time in their last 11 matches.
Both teams saw attacking opportunities throughout the first half, but the Quakes had the first real look on goal in the 14th minute. Panamanian midfielder Alberto Quintero stole possession at midfield, dribbled past several NYCFC defenders and had a shot, but the foot of keeper Josh Saunders denied the scoring opportunity.
In the 24th minute, Simon Dawkins’ free kick was headed to the far post where Anibal Godoy tried a shot with his left foot. Saunders made the save to keep the score level.
Eight minutes into the second half, Quintero’s cross found Quakes forward Chris Wondolowski unmarked in the box. Wondolowski’s header went just wide of the target.
Wondolowski continued pushing for a goal. In the 68th minute, his bouncing shot beat Saunders but caromed off the woodwork and went harmlessly out of play.
The Earthquakes held a 19 to 10 shot advantage at the final whistle, but were unable to break the deadlock.
The Quakes hit the road to take on Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Friday, August 12 at BC Place. The match kicks off at 8 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on UniMas, 1590 KLIV and 1370 KZSF.
Notes:
• San Jose is now 6-6-10 on the season and 6-1-4 at home.
• San Jose now has a 0-1-1 all-time record against NYCFC, including an 0-0-1 record at home.
• The Quakes are 6-1-3 at Avaya Stadium this season, allowing five total goals and keeping five clean sheets.
• The Earthquakes are now 13-4-8 at Avaya Stadium since the start of the 2015 season, allowing 14 total goals.
• The Earthquakes have held opponents to no more than one goal in 17 of their 22 matches this season, including 11 of their last 12.
• New acquisition Darwin Ceren made his San Jose debut, replacing Fatai Alashe in the 82nd minute.
• Cordell Cato started and played 90 minutes for the fifth consecutive match, a new personal record.
• Quakes keeper David Bingham recorded his fifth shutout of the season and 17th in his last 51 starts.
• The Earthquakes’ 19 shots were their second most in a game this season (23 vs. LA on 6/25).
• The Earthquakes’ nine corner kicks were a season high and the most in a single game since tallying 11 vs. Portland on August 2, 2015.
• The Quakes’ six fouls conceded were a season low and the fewest in a game since committing four at Seattle on May 17, 2014.
• No San Jose players received a yellow or red card for the third time in their last seven games after doing so in just one of their first 15 matches.
MLS Regular Season
New York City FC 0 – San Jose Earthquakes 0
Aug. 5, 2016 – Avaya Stadium in San Jose, CA
Attendance: 18,000
Scoring Summary: None.
Misconduct Summary: None.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: David Bingham; Cordell Cato, Marvell Wynne, Victor Bernardez, Jordan Stewart; Alberto Quintero, Fatai Alashe (Darwin Ceren 82), Anibal Godoy, Simon Dawkins (Shea Salinas 46); Chris Wondolowski, Quincy Amarikwa (Chad Barrett 71).
SHOTS: 19, SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; SAVES: 3; FOULS: 6; CORNER KICKS: 9; OFFSIDES: 4.
NEW YORK CITY FC: Josh Saunders; RJ Allen, Maxine Chanot, Frederic Brillant, Jason Hernandez; Andrea Pirlo, Andoni Iraola (Federico Bravo 72), Frank Lampard; Thomas McNamara (Tony Taylor 83), David Villa, Jack Harrison (Steven Mendoza 62).
SHOTS: 10; SHOTS ON GOAL: 3; SAVES: 4; FOULS: 17; CORNER KICKS: 3; OFFSIDES: 0.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On whether he’s happy with a point and whether the issue was finishing:
“Not happy with this point, no. We should have come out with the win. I think we know that. They had a couple looks. I thought defensively we were pretty smart. We high-pressed them into some mistakes. We had some good looks. To come out with no goals is a bit surprising tonight.”
On what changes he needs to make for the next game:
“Score. That would be the big one right there. We had real good looks. I mean [Anibal] Godoy has a good chance in the first half. The chances in the second half were a little bit more clear-cut and plenty. The attitude of the guys, they’re disappointed in the locker room right now. Ties are good, but we’ve got to do better than good right now, we’ve got to get some wins. To win games we need to start scoring some goals. And I think I might have said that last week too.”
On what else he can change after generating 19 shots and 9 corners:
“Nothing, really. I thought the attitude of the guys was great. We played some good stuff. That’s the positive side of it. But in the end, you’d like to reward your good play with something spectacular. I think the fans were on edge also, waiting for that goal to come. It’s one of those, if we’re not getting chances or we’re playing poorly, but I thought tonight our energy was really good. Runs off the ball were good and we were getting ourselves in good places to score. Give credit to Josh Saunders, I thought he made some real good saves tonight. But there were some opportunities there that I think we probably should have done a little bit better on.”
On holding the highest scoring team in the league to a clean sheet:
“To not get scored on by these guys, they’ve got some great players going forward. I thought Marvell [Wynne] and Victor [Bernardez] did a good job on David Villa. Limited his space. I think that had to do with sometimes our pressure being so high up the field, he was receiving the ball at the half way line rather than receiving it kind of deep. So, good to those guys. I think David [Bingham] made one pretty good save there at the end. But I thought defensively we closed down space pretty good. Like I said, great to get a shutout, we’re happy with that, that’s always the intention when you step on the field. But on the other side of it, you don’t want to get shutout, and it’s unfortunate we come out with no goals.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER DARWIN CEREN
On the making club debut:
“I’m happy I was able to debut tonight. I’m overwhelmed with all of the support from my teammates and the fans from my country that came tonight. To have that following is a blessing and made this process much easier."
On playing in new system:
“I’m motivated to fit in and continue to play well with these guys. Now I have to continue to play hard and earn the right to continue to play significant minutes. I think little by little, if I continue to work I will have those opportunities. I’m happy with how we played tonight as I thought we played well. We created chances that we ultimately couldn’t finish, but we will find those goals and continue marching forward."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER JORDAN STEWART
On match:
“I felt we were solid defensively tonight. It didn’t look like we were going to concede a goal tonight the way we were playing. Soccer is one of those sports where each team will have their chances. For the most part, we’ve minimized the opposition’s chances all year. We had chances to score. We are not far off. When we keep a clean sheet, normally we score. At the moment we aren’t getting the goals that we need. It’s a team effort. We attack as a team and defend as a team.”
On what can change to boost attack:
“I’m not sure it’s one thing. We like getting the ball wide to our midfielders and let them do their magic by getting balls in the box. Chris [Wondolowski], Quincy [Amarikwa] and Chad [Barrett] have been in great positions to attack and to score goals. I just think we have to keep doing what we are doing, because we are not far off. At the same time, you want to turn draws into wins because there are only 12 games left. We need to start winning more games.”
