Quakes inching closer to final West playoff spot
Matias Perez Garcia scored in the 87th minute to give the Earthquakes a 1-0 victory over Real Salt Lake at Avaya Stadium on Sunday, a result they desperately needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.
San Jose (12-12-7, 43 points) moved a point back of Portland for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Earthquakes have three games left, and Portland has four to go.
Real Salt Lake (10-11-8, 38) is six points behind the Timbers with four games remaining.
Garcia approached a ball that Quincy Amarikwa headed back to him outside the box and he launched a left-footed shot that deflected off a Salt Lake defender into the bottom right corner.
Garcia ripped off his jersey in celebration and was rewarded with his second yellow card, forcing the Quakes to play a man down through the end that included four minutes of stoppage time.
San Jose dominated with a 20-6 shots advantage.
Dominic Dwyer scored in the 79th minute to give Sporting Kansas City a 1-1 tie with the visiting Seattle Sounders. The Sounders opened the scoring in the 31st minute when Obafemi Martins shouldered off defender Kevin Ellis to finish a long ball from Gonzalo Pineda for his 14th goal.
Europe: Everything had been going right for Inter Milan, with five consecutive victories, just one goal conceded and the undisputed top slot in Serie A.
Then it all unraveled in front of a disbelieving home crowd at San Siro as Inter conceded three goals before the first 25 minutes were up, and lost 4-1 to Fiorentina.
The Florence club now leads the standings for the first time since 1999.
In the day’s only match of the English Premier League, Crystal Palace continued its promising start to the season by beating Watford 1-0 away to move up to sixth in the standings.