The stars were not aligned for MLS stars in San Jose
SAN JOSE — As the ball rolled to the lethal right foot of Chris Wondolowski it appeared Bay Area soccer fanatics were in for another magical moment Thursday night at Avaya Stadium.
The hometown patrons among the sold-out crowd of 18,000 fans for the midsummer MLS All-Star game knew what was coming from their native son. So did Portland Timbers star Darlington Nagbe.
“I thought he was going to score,” the U.S. midfielder said. “He scores nine out of 10 times.”
This was that one-in-10 moment in the 82nd minute as Arsenal FC enjoyed the gameending heroics to score a compelling 2-1 victory over Major League Soccer’s best.
“I got too steep on it and tried to come across my body to get the goalkeeper,” said the Earthquakes’ leading scorer.
Can the fairy-tale ending for a league trying to gain worldwide respect.
It was an East London 20-year-old who scored with three minutes left in regulation to generate the most buzz for the many Arsenal fans scattered throughout the stadium.
After a taut 86-plus minutes it came down to a defensive lapse that allowed Nancho Monreal to find Gunners teammate Christopher Willock deep on the left side. His cross led to Chuba Akpom’s game winner.
Akpom, like many of the players coach Arsene Wenger played, is fighting for a chance to remain with the senior team for the upcoming English Premier League season. The Gunners had only a few bona fide top-line players such as goalkeeper Petr Cech, midfielder Jack Wilshere and forwards Theo Walcott and Joel Campbell, who opened the scoring in the 11th minute with a penalty kick.
Most of the players were on audition as Arsenal prepares for its EPL season opener Aug. 14 against Liverpool.
“It’s a friendly game but we still take it seriously,” Akpom said. “They have legends, players I used to watch growing up.”
The All-Stars left San Jose carrying mixed emotions as they resume the MLS season this weekend. But the game had a festival atmosphere underscored with former world player of the year Kaka playing pingpong in the Quakes’ weight room afterward.
“You see the growth in everything about the game,” Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman said. “You’re seeing our team getting stronger and the other opponent getting stronger and stronger. You’re just seeing it grow right in front of us.”
Sacha Kljestan of the New York Red Bulls downplayed the game’s sig- nificance despite the 13th consecutive year against a famous international opponent.
“It’s still just a friendly to us,” he said, adding most MLS players prefer a traditional East-West game.
“You don’t have to show off to beat a European team to prove where we are at as a league,” the former U.S. international player said. “We have enough superstars coming out of the box.”
After defeating Tottenham Hotspur of the EPL and German giant Bayern Munich the previous two years, the All-Stars lost their mojo against Arsenal, the famous English team that is the topic of Nick Hornby’s bestselling autobiography.
While the defeat won’t decrease the league’s popularity at home, failing to dominate the Arsenal JVs won’t help its cause abroad.
Arsenal might have left many of its stars at home, but the Gunners had enough to cause the All-Stars panic during much of the opening half. The North Londoners scored first on Campbell’s penalty kick that came after central defender Laurent Ciman of Montreal brought down the striker near the goal.
It took the All-Stars some time to get acquainted, but once they did the game enjoyed more balance.
The MLS team finally leveled the score in first-half stoppage time on a goal by Didier Drogba, the famous Ivory Coast player.
It took the former Chelsea star three whacks. The first was blocked by his Chelsea teammate Cech. Then an Arsenal defender kept it out of goal, but the ball rebounded to Drogba who popped it into the corner.
“Every time, I want to score,” Drogba said. “But if we lose, it doesn’t count. ... It was disappointing.”
Cech had said this week he didn’t want his friend to score “because for a whole year he would text me with a picture of the goal probably.”
The Arsenal keeper might get such a text. But his reply will come with a happy face emoji: 2-1.