Good evening folks. The red-hot San Jose Earthquakes are playing host to the first-place Houston Dynamo in the first of two meetings between the two in consecutive weeks. Can the Dynamo stop the Earthquakes freight train, or will the Earthquakes keep on rolling all the way to second place in the West?
If you are watching, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action.
AlexS,
Got to agree with you that the referee was completely off his rocker to call the foul on Eddie when he was tripped from behind, and then to give him the 2nd yellow for that displayed complete incompetence.
Should Eddie have received a 2nd yellow 5 minutes before that? Perhaps. But that doesn’t change the fact that he didn’t deserve even to be called for a foul here. A non-call plus a later non-foul do not equal a 2nd yellow, except in homer math.
Brent, thanks, I found that out right after I posted my second note.
Wish I’d seen the game. Ive never seen Ching get really upset before, and I’ve followed him pretty closely.
The Quakes do have two stars on their shirts. Great rivalry. Love it!
Tony, I checked on the Dynamo blog at Houston Chronicle website and, indeed, Ching went off on the fans. He thought they were disrespecting Kinnear, and apparently, the fact that the Dynamo originally gave San Jose its titles. Do the quakes have stars on their shirts?
I’m not excusing the behavior, but that’s Ching’s explanation…
Tony, this does not sound at all like Ching, even if he had a reason. I didn’t see the game so I can’t argue with you, of course.
What did he do,exactly? Can you think of any reason he may have had for his behavior?
Thanks for the info….
I like Eddie Robinson. And that should have been his *second* red card.
I don’t think I have seen a more physical, intense game this year. Garcia with a significant cut, blood everywhere (was there a foul? Never saw the contact). Holden took an elbow to the face (no foul given). Robinson pulls off a WWF tackle in the box (no foul given).
30 fouls were called, but nearly as many missed.
It looked like a playoff game.
No, I am not kidding you. Totally uncalled for.
Great, hard-hitting game. Both teams can consider themselves unlucky at times, but I think on balance the Quakes had more chances.
As for Ching…I always liked him and supported him, but no more. He got the equalizer and ran over to taunt San Jose fans – fans who did nothing but support him while he was here and most of whom continued to root for him with Houston. He is now on my punk list and I will no longer support him.
@Zheri
Explain what part of the red card was a foul by the defender?
Attacker come up from behind the defender, pulls on defender’s shirt, lunges into the defender’s back – which sends both of them to the ground. I guess in mid tumble Eddie’s leg hit Johnson’s leg, but it’s rather hard to control it when Johnson just pushed ERob down with a hand on the base of the neck – which is a very dangerous play.
And if you want to complain about Eddie’s “scissor kick” five minutes prior… you might have an argument, but a) there was no scissor kick (Eddie didn’t kick him at all), and that was still nowhere near as bad as the elbow to Kamara’s face that went uncalled.
Wow, you’re delusional AlexS. ERob should’ve been sent off five minutes prior after his scissor kick on Johnson, and the red card was about the only good call the ref made all day.
KingSnake… are you kidding me?
Of course Eddie had an outburst after that call. The ball was in front of ERob. He was playing it in front of him. The card was given to him when the SJ attacker came up from behind him.
Why the second yellow? Well, the ref was making plenty of bad calls in both ways. I guess when the SJ player jumps into Eddie’s back it looked bad enough to not consider it was Eddie who had been fouled by an attacker throwing his body into Eddie to try and edge ahead of him. You don’t call fouls on defenders who have the ball for not letting the attacker push him off of it, no matter how bad the crash looked.
The Red card was a total joke.
Btw, thanx for that link Ricky …
One thing they could do to encourage the beautiful game is give Eddie Robinson a *LENGTHY* suspension for his outburst after being red-carded. Bt, this *is* MLS, so he may get a bonus …
Fun game to watch.
O’Brien’s shot was beautiful, we were right behind him as he took it – he struck such as to put a curve to the end of it so that it went across the keeper and then in the far corner. Very nice.
Ching’s goal on the other end was nice and clinical Ching, one knew it was coming before the cross, but knowing and defending are two different things.
The end of the game was exciting with Johnson and Salinas subbing on for the Earthquakes, and Ching and DeRosario coming on for the Dynamo. It seemed the Dynamo could only stop the Earthquakes counter attacks by pulling the attackers down as they got to the box, but the calls on it were a little lax. That said, they might have given the Dynamo a penalty for a Earthquakes’ handball in the PA, or made a number of other calls.
Sold out stadium, loud & boisterous, an emotional match for the local fans. To date San Jose has emotional, intense rivalries with the Galaxy and the Dynamo. Players aren’t really allowed to leave San Jose and go play elsewhere, the fans adopt the players into their hearts, and a certain reciprocation is asked! You’ll never walk alone applies…
Maybe that passion is how great soccer gets a foothold but we won’t see joga bonito unless the refs call the fouls quite a bit tighter and thus encourage the beautiful game over the ugly one.
No problem
Final score 1-1, Ching got his back.
(thanks for link too)
Houston looked relieved to get out of town with a point. Good job by the San Jose folks turning around their team.
Mullan should have been red carded
To the game?
http://www.justin.tv/jtv_sports4
got a link?
GOAL! O BRIEN!