The San Jose Earthquakes did an outstanding job shutting down the vaunted Seattle Sounders attack, but their stunning 1-0 victory over the Sounders on Saturday night was marred to some extent by the controversial penalty that helped them score the winner.
Forward Steven Lenhart fell in the penalty area after contact with Seattle defender Marc Burch and collapsed to the ground, drawing a penalty that Chris Wondolowski converted in San Jose's 1-0 victory at CenturyLink Field.
Lenhart appeared to go down very easily as Burch appeared to trip him. Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid wasn't too impressed with the play, and implied it was a dive.
“That’s (Lenhart's) game,” Schmid said after the match. “That’s what he does all the time. He does it all the time and then afterward he apologizes, so that’s his thing.”
The penalty decision aside, San Jose did extremely well to neutralize Seattle's high-powered attack, with goalkeeper Jon Busch making some outstanding saves, and the back four keeping David Estrada and Fredy Montero in check.
Here are the match highlights:
The victory improves San Jose to 3-1 on the season, and into a tie for first place in the West with Real Salt Lake.
What did you think of the match? Did you think Lenhart dove, or was it a legit penalty? Impressed with San Jose's defense?
Share your thoughts below.