Earthquakes are half bad in disappointing road loss
HARRISON, N.J. >> Enjoying a one-goal advantage into the second half on Saturday, the Earthquakes suddenly went from good to bad to worse.
The Quakes squandered that lead, surrendering four goals during a nightmare second half en route to a 4-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena.
It was San Jose’s third consecutive loss to start the Major League Soccer season as it has conceded nine goals, including eight in the final half.
“We had pretty much two games in one,” Earthquakes head coach Matias Almeyda said. “The first half was a great, the second half it was pretty bad. It was against a team that doesn’t forgive us.”
Chris Wondolowski, still a goal shy of tying Landon Donovan’s MLS career record of 145 goals, under- stood that feeling.
“It’s been tough because I feel there’s a lot of optimism in this locker room,” he said. “We have the right guys, the right coaching staff. You’ve got to do it for 90 minutes, though. The great thing about this game, you can’t do it for 45 minutes, you can’t it for 60 minutes, for 75 minutes, it’s got to be a full game. You can’t take plays off, you can’t cheat. You have to do it the right way, play it the right way. And if you don’t, especially against a team like the Red bulls, they’re going to absolutely punish you and rightfully so.”
Before they got punished, the Earthquakes had their moments.
Only five minutes into the match, they drew first blood as Cristian Espinoza snagged a feed from Magnus Eriksson and fired a close-range shot from the right side, one bounce past a sprawled goalkeeper, Luis Robles.
They had several other opportunities in the opening half, but could not add to their lead.
“We’re missing that killer instinct,” Wondolowski said. “If you’re able to get a second one, a third one, it changes the game.”
Alex Muyl, who replaced the injured Florian Valot in the 32nd minute, struck for the first of his two goals five minutes into the second half, tucked away a Daniel Royer pass in the 51st minute to equalize at 1-1.
Royer crossed the ball from the right side, which deflected off a San Jose defender to Muyl at the far
post as he volleyed it home in the 71st minute. Bradley Wright-Phillips (85th minute) and Royer (89th minute) added insurance goals.
“They changed the game plan, executed a lot better,” Wondolowski said. “We got a lot more lax on our marks and they are extremely deadly, lethal.”
Wondolowski never had the opportunity to be just that as Red Bulls center back Aaron Long, the 2018 MLS defender of the year, made sure the veteran striker did not attempt a shot.
“He hasn’t gotten very many chances,” Almeyda said. “He’s still working with his club. He’s a goalscorer, and sometimes goal-scorers have goalscoring phases and sometimes they have droughts. Surely him as the rest of the team, we should still keep improving.”
The Quakes host Los Angeles FC on March 30 in their next MLS match.