SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Earthquakes fell 2-1 to the Montreal Impact on Saturday night at Avaya Stadium. It marked Matias Almeyda’s first match as head coach of the Quakes.
Earthquakes midfielder Magnus Eriksson scored in the 11th minute to give San Jose the early lead, but a pair of tallies by the Impact before the halftime whistle earned the visitors three points.
The Earthquakes remain at home to host Minnesota United FC at Avaya Stadium next Saturday, March 9 (4:45 p.m.), presented by 7UP.
2019 MLS Regular Season
San Jose Earthquakes 1-2 Montreal Impact
March 2, 2019 – Avaya Stadium in San Jose, Calif.
Attendance: 18,000 (sellout)
Scoring Summary: SJ – Magnus Eriksson (Vako, Anibal Godoy) 11; MTL – Ignacio Piatti (Saphir Taider) 29; MTL – Saphir Taider (Zakaria Diallo) 44.
Misconduct Summary: MTL – Bacary Sagna (caution) 45 +1; MTL – Micheal Azira (caution) 58; SJ – Harold Cummings (caution) 66; SJ – Tommy Thompson (caution) 73; SJ – Judson (caution) 77; MTL– Mathieu Choiniere (caution) 82; MTL – Evan Bush (caution) 90+4.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: Daniel Vega; Marcos Lopez, Harold Cummings (Danny Hoesen 74), Guram Kashia, Nick Lima (Tommy Thompson 61); Judson, Anibal Godoy; Vako, Magnus Eriksson (Jackson Yueill 69), Cristian Espinoza; Chris Wondolowski.
SHOTS: 13; SHOTS ON TARGET: 5; SAVES: 1; FOULS: 17; CORNER KICKS: 7; OFFSIDES: 4
MONTREAL IMPACT: Evan Bush; Daniel Lovitz, Zakaria Diallo, Victor Cabrera, Bacary Sagna; Saphir Taider, Samuel Piette, Michael Azria, Ignacio Piatti (Zachary Brault-Guillard 85), Orji Okwonwo (Mathieu Choiniere 70); Maximmiliano Urruti.
SHOTS: 10; SHOTS ON TARGET: 3; SAVES: 4; FOULS: 14; CORNER KICKS: 6; OFFSIDES: 1
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH MATIAS ALMEYDA
On the result:
“No adverse results will ever leave me satisfied, but I don’t live life being stuck on a result. I think the team played a great game. They had two distractions; the rival’s two goals from which we can correct ourselves. As the game went on, our team was competitive, a team fighting for possession, a team that pressured. Obviously, I did not like the result.”
On the team learning Matias’ system of play:
“I can’t tell for now, but I liked how the team played. They played with a style. Obviously, the result always dictates the outcome. The style they played with was good, the effort was good, their respect for the shirt that they had on was good, the chemistry between the players was good. There are moments in soccer where a millisecond can define a world championship, promotion and relegation, and that means we need to be focused the entire 95 minutes.”
On his experience coaching his first ever MLS match:
“I love this sport. I don’t like to lose, obviously. Tonight, I won’t be able to sleep. I’m going to watch the game three or four times. But there is a light that is coming, and we’ll have to turn over and work, that’s the only way to get out of this situation.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER MAGNUS ERIKSSON
On his goal:
“The goal was nice. It was a good set up by Vako, but of course the important thing in soccer is winning games and we didn’t do that today, but yeah it was the first game, a lot of new things, so yeah we can improve from here.”
On playing a central role:
“Yeah, it feels good. I’ve been there for a couple of weeks now, basically the whole preseason. I really enjoy it. Most of the games that we played during the preseason, we created more chances than maybe we do today, but it’s a good position and I feel pretty comfortable there.”
On what encourages him and what improvements he sees in the team:
“I would say that the feeling that we have in this locker room is way better than we had last year. We have a big belief in what we are doing. We are training hard and we really enjoy the time here together so I see this as a first game that the result is not with us, but I think that the performance is decent.”
