Earthquakes Fall 3-1 at Minnesota After Leading at Halftime
San Jose led 1-0 at the break, then allowed three second-half goals, the last in stoppage time, at Allianz Field.
Here's my take, and I'm sticking to it: the Earthquakes played one half of soccer on Saturday night, and the season doesn't pay out on halves.
Minnesota United beat San Jose 3-1, scoring all three goals after the break. The Quakes were up 1-0 at halftime. Then they got pinned in, Minnesota kept coming, and Nectarios Triantis put it away in the 90'+4'.
A great 45, then a long 45
The first half was lovely. Niko Tsakiris threaded a through ball in the 45th minute, and Preston Judd finished from the center of the box into the bottom right corner. That made it 1-0 San Jose, and the Quakes went in with the lead.
Then the second half turned on a fast break. In the 57th minute, Joaquín Pereyra sent Tomás Chancalay through, and Chancalay finished into the bottom right corner to level it at 1-1. The equalizer came 12 minutes after our goal. Ouch.
The Quakes hung on for 25 more minutes. In the 82nd, a Triantis shot deflected off goalkeeper Angus Gunn and into the net. It went down as an own goal on Gunn, and it was a rotten way to fall behind. Minnesota led 2-1.
Then came the dagger. On a counterattack, Triantis drove through the midfield and the defense, and in the 90'+4' he finished from the center of the box, past Gunn, to make it 3-1.
The numbers behind the slide
Possession was basically even, 50.6 percent for Minnesota and 49.4 for San Jose. Most of the rest leaned the home side's way:
- Shots: Minnesota had 14, with 6 on goal. San Jose had 8, with 3 on goal.
- Corners: Minnesota won that one 8-2. The own goal came after a corner-kick scramble.
- Clearances: San Jose cleared 31 balls to Minnesota's 17. A team that clears that often is living in its own box.
Gunn made 4 saves and did plenty to keep this within reach. I'm not hanging the own goal on him. A deflection is a deflection.
Daniel Munie was the busiest Quake, with a team-high 50 accurate passes and 18 defensive interventions. Tsakiris had the assist and a team-high 2 shots. Judd scored, then picked up a yellow card in the 69th minute.
Discipline was even, with 3 yellows apiece. Ronaldo Vieira (46'), Jamar Ricketts (67') and Judd were booked for San Jose.
What it means
San Jose finishes at 14-10-10 with 52 points, fourth in the Western Conference as of now. St. Louis is the next team above with 54 points, and Houston is the next team below with 51. The Quakes have no regular-season matches left, so their fate rests on other results. The standings are as of now, and other teams may have played since.
That makes this one sting. Minnesota also leads the season series 4-1, with the earlier meeting a 5-1 loss for San Jose. At least this one was competitive for a long stretch.
There is no next game on the schedule in front of me, so the Quakes wait. My advice for whatever comes next: bring the first half and the second half, and don't leave either one at home.
