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Martinez scores winner as Earthquakes top Sounders in ugly match

WalterMartinez (Getty)

By IVES GALARCEP

It will go down as one of the uglier matches of the 2013 MLS season, but for the San Jose Earthquakes, Saturday night’s match against the Seattle Sounders will be remembered as being beautiful for the three points they earned.

Walter Martinez scored a 48th minute finish, collecting an errant Steven Lenhart pass and curling a shot past Sounders back-up goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, for the eventual game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Seattle.

The match was marred by by physical altercations and consistent fouling from both sides. The teams combined for 35 fouls and seven cards, including a red card to Osvaldo Alonso in second-half stoppage time for what referee Sorin Stoica explained after the match was “violent conduct” and “contact above the shoulder”. Replays showed that there was no such contact.

Lenhart was once again at the heart of several controversial plays, including a challenge on Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning that left him injured, and eventually forced him out of the match at halftime.

Seattle’s offense struggled to generate much offense all night, with San Jose’s physical approach disrupting attempts by the Sounders to string together passes. Seattle still held a possession edge, 54 percent to 46 percent, but the Sounders managed just one shot on goal all night.

The loss spoiled Alonso’s return to the starting lineup after a long injury layoff.

 

Here are the match highlights:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYE_ALyo9sM]

What did you think of the match?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Guys, take off your homer lenses. Anyone who is actually being unbiased will concede the fact that both teams were going in hard on everything, Lenhart could have possibly gotten a red, and Alonso BTW, the reason he received red was not caught on camera, so all we can do is speculate.

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    • im pretty sure the replay showed Alonso and the SJ player coming together, unless there was something even before that, however there didnt appear to be.

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  2. That was one of the more physical games I’ve seen in quite a long time, well maybe since the cup game against Seattle at Kezar were Ianni had his elbow in the back of Lenhart’s head every other play, eventually managing to give him a concussion. It’s always a two way street fellas, the Seattle CBs are no angels. For what it’s worth, Traore already had his legs off the ground when Lenny comes through underneath, very little contact….that was a crafty high end sell job. Lenny’s late on the keeper hoping for a bobble…no excuses, I think the DC will look at that one.

    The Quakes are a wounded animal right now – the season hangs in the balance with this home stand. With Wondo and Chavez out, it was no surprise that they would put all their effort into making sure there were no loose ends defensively. For the first time this year, the mids and back four finally defended as a unit for 90 minutes. As a CB, holding the opponent to one shot on goal is a thing of beauty, not exactly entertaining stuff for fans though. With the Quakes scoring first, this was never going to be a free flowing game, it was a desperation grind for a much needed result.

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  3. Imagine that, the Earthquakes involved in another ugly game. What’s the common denominator? The harsh, unprofessional fouls is ruining the quality of MLS.

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    • Look at this Sounders fan agreeing with a Portlandian.
      I can understand that a Quakes fan would be excited about any victory, but do they really like watching this crap week in and week out? It’s anti-soccer. It’s just horrible to watch.
      My guess is that any Quakes fan would hate any other team that played this way.

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  4. This was simply an awful game to watch that neither team deserved to win. SJ were probably marginally better but both teams were poor and did little overall. The red card was obviously a complete joke and the ref was entirely manipulated by the SJ players and they should be ashamed for begging for it.

    Once again Lenhart gets away with his bs without any real punishment other than 1 yellow card. He managed to hurt Traore and Gspurning with late and cheap challenges including a possible broken hand for Gspurning according to post game remarks. Also really liked how he got in Alonsos face after he was sent off and talked trash. So glad the MLS continues to allow him to get away with all this trash.

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    • Just watched those highlights since it sounds like Gspurning may have a fracture, Lenhart clearly slides after Gspurning already has the ball in his hands. He has no place in this league or any league

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    • Lenhart and Gordon are both complete embarrassments to the game. It is just such a disgrace that the refs let them both get away with so much BS. Their number one priority in playing the game is to incite the other team, not play soccer. They always play the man first. Their strategy seems to be if you consistently commit a handful of caution worthy fouls per match, the refs will somehow just chalk it up to your normal aggressive playing style.

      Personally, I am sick of them ruining the beautiful game. For me, MLS should consistently kick them out of every game they play until they learn how to play soccer. Just embarrassing. These are the types of guys that people always say “you hate to play against them until they are on your team”. That is completely not true. I hate when RSL has players that flop or are dirty players. Kreis does not put up with it either and has consistently worked with Morales to stop going down easy or baiting refs into giving out cards.

      San Jose and Houston are two teams that just make the beautiful game ugly to watch because of their antics.

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    • Do you know what the red card was for? The video replays weren’t clear on it. That would be the only reason it’s not rescinded maybe, because there wasn’t clear evidence one way or the other. I’m just curious, because the talking and pushing they caught on camera wasn’t a conclusive red card, in my book.

      Reply

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