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Wondolowski pulls off stoppage-time magic again as Earthquakes tie Timbers

ChrisWondolowskiWins (ISIPhotos.com)

When Danny Mwanga scored his second of two goals in the 62nd minute of the Portland Timbers' visit to San Jose on Wednesday night, the league-leading Earthquakes looked like they might just be ready to finally fall at home after 13 straight matches without a loss.

Then Chris Wondolowski showed up and the Earthquakes pulled off yet another comeback.

Playing in the rare role of second-half substitute, Wondolowski came off the bench and scored two goals, including a stoppage-header for the equalizer, as the Earthquakes rallied for a 2-2 draw at Buck Shaw Field on Wednesday night.

The comeback spoiled a special night for Mwanga, who enjoyed his best performance as a Timbers player since joining Portland via trade from the Philadelphia Union earlier in the season. Mwanga worked a give-and-go with Rodney Wallace before scoring his first goal just before halftime.

Mwanga made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute when he unleashed a 23-yard blast past Jon Busch to quiet the crowd in San Jose.

The Earthquakes didn't crumble though. They simply proceeded to pull off yet another comeback, with Wondolowski making it 2-1 in the 72nd minute with a slotted low shot past Joe Bendik off a pass from Steven Lenhart. Wondolowski delivered the equalizer in the 92nd minute when he headed home a cross deflected into his path by Portland's Hanyer Mosquera.

The win pushed San Jose three points clear of Sporting Kansas City in the race for the Supporters Shield, and nine points ahead of the Seattle Sounders for first place in the West.

Here are the match highlights:

 

What did you think of the match? Can you believe how many times San Jose has come back late in games this season? See some bright spots in the recent play of the Timbers? Wondering whether Timbers head coach Gavin Wilkinson was to blame for the team's collapse on Wednesday night?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. He was not offside when Cronin’s pass was played. And the Timbers player who headed/flicked the ball away definitely had control – it wasn’t a deflection, it was a deliberate flick.

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  2. He was not offside. FACT. The Timbers fans crying via twitter last night are clueless.

    That said, the ref had a howler. Lost total control of the game. Lenharts take down from behind on I think Horst towards the end of the game. Yellow at the least.

    There was also a body slam in the middle of the field, where everyone was in an uproar, should have been a yellow.

    Songo also charged in on someone that should have been his second yellow…

    The ref was a joke.

    All that said above, we suck. We did not deserve a point. I am very happy for the draw. More so, happy to see Mwanga get the brace. I think he is a part of our go forward plan…

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  3. Wrong. Totally and completely wrong.

    If Wondo was offside when the initial pass was played then he was offside and the goal should not have been allowed. It matters not whether the ball is deflected by a defender in flight. In order for offside to “reset” the defender must gain possession. Had Mosquera gained possession of the ball then passed it back and Wondo poached it from there then he would have been no longer offside.

    See Laws of the game PDF, Page 111, figure 12. This is exactly what happened here (again, assuming the goal scorer was off when the initial ball is played as he looked to be a step or 2 behind his defender who was on the back line).

    Truthfully, the Timbers didn’t deserve to win this game, trying to bunker for 30+ minutes against the best team in the league and just allowing cross after cross … but if Wondo was offside when the ball was played then he should have been called offside, deflection or not.

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  4. As of right now I’m marking WONDO for a spot on the WC team. Unless Agudelo or Wooten or Bunbury step up, it will just be Jozy, Gomez, Boyd and WONDO. With us playing 1 striker up top

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  5. Come on guys, he had never produced ( possibly due to never getting a much of a chance), so he started at 42k, and every season he has gotten a new contract almost doubling his salary. I would say SJ is taking care of him. first contract went from 42k to 170k, second to 300k. You think players should be made DP’s after a season?….i am sure wondo will get more money sooon.

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  6. Dollar dog night at Buck Shaw and a great crowd! I didn’t make it out to the game, but it looked amazing on TV. For all the Quakes fans, I spoke to one of their ticket sales representatives because my boss likes buying tickets in bulk for us. I asked him if they are considering playing their playoff games at Stanford Stadium, he said they are considering that as an option since it is a much bigger stadium. I think they should keep the games a Buck Shaw, the environment there is a much better home field advantage. What do you guys think?

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  7. Also forgot to mention Mwanga. Nice to see him get a couple goals considering how much Jorge Perlaza is tearing it up right now. Still think Philly got the better end of the deal because any time you can trade a 21 year old up and comer with potential for a middling 26 year old finished product you have to do it.

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  8. Old School -Ah, I get it now. Yes, I’m thin-skinned on this one. I will redirect my spit and fury away from you and on to the next yahoo who thinks that 100 scoreless MNT minutes equals an utter failure.

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  9. As a former referee, I’ll try to clear up the confusion for folks that might not be totally familiar with offsite rules. To have an offside offense there are a several conditions that must be met. One is that the ball has to reach the player via a touch or pass from their own teammate. If the ball is passed by a defender, it doesn’t matter if the attacker is in an offside position when the ball was played, there is no offense. The ball reached Wondo via a header from a Timbers player, thus it was perfectly legal for Wondo to play it. Sideline ref got it right.

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  10. +1,000,000 to Aero.
    The majority of Wondo’s MNT mintues have been garbage minutes at the end of games.
    And in most of his minutes, he’s looked very dangerous, gotten off good shots and required some great keeper saves. (There was one game where he required the keeper to stand on his head 3 times.)
    I would call the Beckerman MNT experiment failed. I would call the Wondo MNT experiment an “incomplete grade”.

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  11. Perhaps, unlike Altidore, it’s that Wondolowski doesn’t get to play for the national team. Again, people act like Wondo has played a ton for the national team with no production. Fact, he has only 4 starts and only 8 caps. He has never played a full 90 minutes. I’d guess he has about the equivalent of 4 games for the national team in terms of minutes. Quit acting like he’s gone scoreless in 25 games…

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  12. Wondo, go to EUROPE now.

    You are now too good for MLS. Go to the Bundesliga. Sign a 3 year contract. I’m sure some small club would go for him.

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  13. all goes to prove that sometimes a move is required … as in any job. I sooooo wish that he could replicate his club goal-scoring on an international level …

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  14. Does anyone else think Wondo is the most underpaid player in MLS? I realize he makes 300K a year but how in the world is this guy not a DP? Márquez makes five million a year and Wondo makes 300K, crazy. He needs to get a new agent….wait doesn’t he act as his own agent?

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  15. Who has more scored more goals: Chivas (21) or San Jose in stoppage time (60 goals total) ?

    Without figuring it out, I am going with San Jose.

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  16. I can’t tell by the replay but he looked like he was onside when the SJ player sent the ball in. If he had been offsides at the time of that kick the ball going off the head of the PT defender doesn’t put him back onside.
    SJ luck will carry them to the supporters shield, but it will run out during the playoffs.
    Guess this tie means LAG will be at the top of all the power rankings

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  17. The entire SJ team needs to be drug tested. Every match they start fights and last night it was like the entire team had serious roid rage.

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  18. You mean like: Wondosquez, Wondoles, Wondorona, Wondochoa and Wondorrido?

    or did you mean like:

    Wondöwedes, Wondözil, Wondötze and Wondolfes?

    Reply
  19. Portland fans across the Internet showing how clueless they are when it comes to soccer by saying the second Wondo goal should have been called offside, when the ball was headed to him by a Timbers defender.

    Reply

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