No late heroics this time
The Earthquakes couldn’t muster any late-game magic this time, falling to the LA. Galaxy 4-2 at Avaya Stadium on Saturday night.
After securing a draw against Orlando City and a win at Dallas in their past two games, thanks to late goals, the Quakes had no such luck.
The Galaxy controlled possession and effectively attacked the Earthquakes’ defense, particularly with two goals from forward Giovani dos Santos.
“I thought our defending was passive, and they took advantage of that,” Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “We were not tight defensively. I thought we gave them too much room.”
San Jose seized an early lead as Chris Wondolowskiscored his sixth goal of the season in the 10th minute. It was his eighth career goal against the Galaxy, the most by any Earthquakes player.
That lead didn’t hold up for long. The Galaxy’s Joao Pedro returned the favor with a goal that found the upper right corner of the net in the 19th minute after a setup by Ashley Cole.
L.A. was awarded a penalty kick on a foul by Earthquakes defender Kofi Sarkodie in the 35th minute. Sarkodie stuck his arm out in a collision with Galaxy defender Bradley Diallo. Dos Santos nailed the penalty kick to give the Galaxy a brief lead at 2-1.
The Earthquakes responded when Tommy Thompson set up Danny Hoesen in front of the goal to tie the score in the 37th minute.
But the Galaxy then notched the game-winning goal on a bad bounce off the noggin of Earthquakes defender Víctor Bernárdez for an own goal just before halftime.
The Galaxy took control of the game on a costly turnover near midfield by Cordell Cato. L.A.’s Romain Alessandrini streaked down the side of the field and delivered a pass to dos Santos, who scored on the header to make it 4-2 in the 64th minute.
“I thought Giovani dos Santos was excellent,” Kinnear said.
The loss dropped the Earthquakes to a record of 5-5-4 with 19 points, while the Galaxy improved to 5-5-2 with 17 points. San Jose is in fourth place in the Western Conference, three points behind Sporting Kansas City.
The Earthquakes had entered the game as the Western Conference’s hottest team by going 3-1-1 in their previous five games.
The atmosphere of the Quakes-Galaxy California Clasico rivalry was festive before and after the game. The estimated crowd of 18,000 was treated to an outdoor concert featuring the music ensemble Nortec Collective.