Earthquakes clinch spot in MLS playoffs with one game left
SAN JOSE >> Cristian Espinoza scored a goal and assisted on another by Chris Wondolowski, and the Earthquakes beat Los Angeles FC 3-2 on Wednesday night to clinch a playoff berth.
The Quakes will reach the MLS playoffs for the first time since 2017, and just the second time they’ve qualified in the last eight years.
Coach Matias Almeyda said he and the Quakes took an understated approach to climbing out of an early-season hole. San Jose is now 6-2-1 in its last nine matches.
“We really stayed calm, careful, and we kept faith in our difficult moments,” Almeyda said postgame. “But we doubled down on our bet and corrected things. When the players began to regain their confidence, I knew there was a possibility to come back.”
Wondolowski, whose 166 career goals are the most in MLS history, scored on a volley in the 37th minute to give the Earthquakes a 2-1 lead. Espinoza lobbed an entry from the left side to the far post where Wondolowski tapped it home between the legs of LAFC goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer.
San Jose (8- 8- 6) played a man down after Jackson Yueill was shown a second yellow card in the 61st minute. It was just another bump in the road for San Jose.
Playing a man down in the 72nd minute, Espinoza took a cross from Shea Salinas and whipped in a sidenetter to give San Jose a 3-1 lead. Salinas moved past Ronaldo Cerritos to become the Earthquakes’ career leader with 49 assists.
“We joke, and I say this facetiously, that our team is made for 2020,” Wondolowski said. “2020 is crazy. We’re mayhem. That’s what our team is made for. It’s why we love it.”
L A FC’s Diego Rossi capped the scoring in stoppage time with his MLSleading 14th goal of the season, but the Quakes held on.
In securing the playoff spot, the Quakes snapped a LAFC’s three-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Latif Blessing scored in the 23rd minute to give LAFC (9-8- 4) a 1- 0 lead but an own goal by Eduard Atuesta tied it about five minutes later.
The match was originally slated for Sunday, but was postponed after three LAFC players tested positive for COVID-19. It wasn’t until Tuesday that MLS announced the teams would play Wednesday night.
The Earthquakes could still climb in playoff seeding with a win Sunday against the Seattle Sounders, but they won’t finish any higher than sixth in the Western Conference.