Photo by ISIPhotos.com
The San Jose Earthquakes have made it a routine to pull off late heroics at Buck Shaw Stadium, with last-minute goals an almost expected part of the proceedings in the small Northern California stadium.
Fans at Buck Shaw saw another late game-winner on Saturday, only this time it wasn’t by the Earthquakes, but by the New England Revolution, who escaped San Jose with all three points after recording their first win of the 2014 season in dramatic fashion.
Lee Nguyen’s stoppage-time winner helped give the Earthquakes a 2-1 victory on Saturday night. The Revs midfielder ran onto a Scott Caldwell pass before beating his man and slotting a shot past Jon Busch in the third minute of stoppage time.
The goal, the first by a New England player this season, capped the team’s best performance of the season. The Revs controlled the match in the first half, taking the lead in the 35th minute on a Victor Bernardez own goal that came after a Diego Fagundez pass put pressure on San Jose’s defense.
San Jose lived up to their reputation as a second half team, pushing hard for the equalizer before breaking through in the 69th minute when Chris Wondolowski pounced on a Jose Goncalves clearance to tie the match.
The Earthquakes looked like they would ride momentum into another late home victory, but it was New England that conjured some Buck Shaw magic, silencing the Earthquake fans with Nguyen’s late winner.
Here are the match highlights:
