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Earthquakes strike late to down 9-man Real Salt Lake, take top spot in West

SJE (Getty Images)

There's a new top dog in the MLS Western Conference.

Playing with nine men, conference-leading Real Salt Lake succumbed to two San Jose Earthquakes goals in second-half stoppage time, as San Jose won 3-1 at Buck Shaw Stadium to take over the top spot in the West.

Simon Dawkins scored the game-winner off Stephen Beitashour's second assist of the night, and Chris Wondolowski netted his league-leading eighth goal to cap off the victory — San Jose's first over RSL since July 3, 2009.

Fabian Espindola was the first RSL player to be sent off after a two-footed, studs-up challenge on Sam Cronin in the 29th minute. Khari Stephenson made RSL pay for it in the 47th minute with bouncing header, but Kyle Beckerman equalized with an elusive run-and-shot six minutes later. Jamison Olave became the second RSL player to be sent off for denying Stephen Lenhart an obvious goalscoring opportunity, though replays showed that Lenhart pulled Olave into him during the shoulder-to-shoulder challenge in the 69th minute. 

San Jose went on the offensive after that, and they cashed in on their chances in the dying moments to seal the three points. 

Match highlights are after the jump:

Comments

  1. Thank you for very logical account of the events kind sir. As a SJ fan, I admit that there wasn’t a ton of contact when Lenny went down. However, Olave had to know that he was the last man and should have been a hell of a lot more careful with his challenge. Given the angle where the referee was (behind and to the right of the play) it probably looked a lot worse than what it actually was. Don’t hate on Lenhart when this type of thing happens in every league in every country on the planet. He isn’t the first to take advantage of soccer’s fouls and won’t be the last.

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  2. New sheriff- hahaha! by the end of June SJ is in 5th or 6th in the west, and RSL will still be a top 3 team in the league. How many conference finals has the “Quakes 2.0” been in? 1? How many CCL finals? 0? The only thing the Quakes have going for them Wondo’s run for the boot every year. I think they are an incredible team, more so this year then ever, but let’s not cry about missing 4 starters, remember RSL was missing starters and still got to the WCF last year. The mighty pedestal took years to build, and has a fondation to stand on. We’ll see what happen next time around 🙂

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  3. You have to commit a fiul to get a card and Olave was shoulder to shoulder, maybe if Lentard would have let go off Olave’s shorts he could have out ran him, of course he knew he could’nt so he did the only cheap thing he could “DOVE”. I’ve seen that play in super slow mo at least 10 times. Olave didnt do anything. As an RSL fan I’m not worried though, Olave gets to rest, and Schular, and Paulo Jr. can handle FCD.

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  4. It’s no big thing SLC fans arent whinning the soccer community is- because it was a horrible call, and Lenhart sucks whether he’s in Columbus, San Jose. He’s just dirt period! Ask LA fans what they think of your guy!

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  5. The author has revealed his/her bias:

    “though replays showed that Lenhart pulled Olave into him during the shoulder-to-shoulder challenge”

    Is that what they showed? Or did they show Olave bumping Lenhart as Lenhart grabbed his shorts to maintain his position. Did replays also show Lenhart immediately get up and take a shot after Olave felled him?

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  6. What shove in the back? there was shoulder to shoulder contact and then Lenhart tried to get into Olaves pants. 1st no foul, and certainly no red. If that was a red, then dawkins should have seen red in the 1st for his tackle from behind on johnson.

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  7. who’s fans are bigger complainers, RSL or Seattle? both are pretty lame.

    first off th quakes played this game with 4…yes count it 4 starters missing (salinas, chavez, bernardez & corrales) and they controled the game from the first minute. lenhart this lenhart complaining doesn’t change the fact that the quakes out played jesus kries & co. if it wasn’t for rimando the score would of been 6-1.

    not for nothing espindola is a straight up dirty player and this isn’t his first red card is it, i believe he’s had at least 4 in the the last 3 seasons, how many has lenhart had????? exactly.

    saborio is just a diver and should try and make the costa rican olympic team at this point and forget soccer.

    get off your high & mighty pedestal RSL fans, there’s a new sheriff in town.

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  8. i don’t think the Olave red card was an easy one to call. But, when you are a defender and especially the last defender AND you are a step behind the attacker, you have to tread lightly. I feel as though he wasn’t as cautious as he should have been and he paid the price. And if he is as fast as people say he is, then he should have no problem getting around Lenhart and into a better defensive position, without the physical contact.

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  9. full disclosure- RSL fan here. The ref last night was turrible. Espindola red card definitely deserved, the Olave red card was harsh, and unfair. Clearly Lenhart initiates contact and flops down. Olave is the fastest player in the league with no reason to foul that clown.
    That being said, we are extremely over rated this year. We lost good players during the offseason and replaced them with rookies and a guy with a superhero name and rec league skills (Steele). Our mids are weak and our strikers are streaky, nary a legit game-changer on the field (sans Morales- who’s older and coming back from injury). Heres to hoping ownership opens the check book and brings in a difference maker to help our awesome D.

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  10. i saw literally no shove in the back, they were even when lenhart grabbed olave and fell. i do not care about either of these teams, im just calling it like i see it. lenhart baited another ref into falling for his antics, eventually he will stop getting the calls.

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  11. I’m not a SLC fan, but I agree. Lenhart is a disgrace. This is the second tainted game this season where Lenhart has manipulated the refs and dived to get 3 points. Hopefully the disciplinary committee will fine him.

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  12. the only cynical one was Olave who got beat by Lenny and then shoved him in the back to bring him down. Olave was last man and that is always a red card. Not a gray area at all.

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  13. Olave got caught napping, Lenny was through on goal 1v1, and Olave shoved him hard in the back and barrelled through him. Classic red card… last man. That is a red 10 out of 10 times, it’s not “soft” or “close” at all.

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  14. C’mon, watch the replay. There’s no contact between Olave and Lenhart until after Lenhart reaches for Olave’s shorts. Then, Lenhart’s left leg swings WAY out to hit into the back of Olave’s legs. Then he falls down. Lenhart pulls Olave into him to create the foul. Yes, Olave’s shoulder bumps in to the back of Lenhart’s shoulder. That’s because Lenhart’s arm is all the way across Olave’s body grabbing onto his shorts. It’s a total hack move by Lenhart, and he should be suspended just like Sabo was last year for his dive against the Quakes.

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  15. and in your view, a push sown by the defender on a goal scoring opportunity is a …dive? or a foul on the player on offense? but nothing on the defender? definitely not a homer view!

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  16. +1.

    I remember thinking highly of Lenhart when I saw him play for Columbus, the guy is good in the air. And if Lenhart is on your team, you love that the guy works very hard for every ball. His biggest problem seems to be learning how to get himself under control and not pick up silly cards.

    Also, RSL complaints about physical play leave me a bit cold — they have plenty of people who play very physically.

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  17. Lenhart has the skill to score goals, especially with his head. He showed this with Columbus. San Jose is a team to watch out for.

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  18. Despite some shoddy calls RSL still almost got off the field with a point… WITH 9 MEN! They should feel confident going into their next game and especially getting the quakes at Rio Tinto later in the season.
    It’s early in the season and the Quakes are worthy competition for the top spot in the west so far. Lot of games left.

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  19. Yawn. More SLC whining. If it’s so damned obvious, then game plan and deal with it. Like he’s the first physical player this league has ever known- your problem is for once the calls went against RSL.

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  20. The Olave red was a huge mistake that turned the game in SJ’s favor (barely). Please don’t tell me that Olave was sloppy on the play with lenhart. He reeled in Lenhart while lenny leans and grabs Olave’s short while they both go sprawling to the ground. This leagues needs more than goal line tech. It needs straight up replay for stuff like this.

    Lenhart doesn’t have the skills for this level other than being big and physical. Skillful athletic players outrun the defense with a step or two or cut back against the defender in a 1v1 or something else besides the only cynical play that Lenhart makes every time.

    Ultimately the ref needs to see that and if he can’t position himself to see the play clearly and get the call right we need replay.

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