Photo by Kelley L. Cox / USA Today Sports
By ADAM TROXTELL
A rough-and-tumble affair produced the odd goal to hand the San Jose Earthquakes a valuable win against the red-hot Vancouver Whitecaps
Entering the game off of back-to-back losses, the Earthquakes breathed a sigh of relief when Sanna Nyassi’s 75th minute strike was enough for a 1-0 win at the Avaya Stadium. For one thing, the Whitecaps had leading goal scorer Octavio Rivero and a string of positive results going in their favor.
Then, there was all the bookings. A total of eight cards were shown on the night, six yellows and two reds, to make defending an increasingly tricky task. Six of the cards bore the name of a Whitecaps player.
The Earthquakes capitalized on a complete lack of Whitecaps shots on goal and put four on target at the other end. By the time both teams went down to 10 men in the 88th minute, a narrow lead already belonged to the home side.
What the game lacked in goals was made up for in cautions. Three Whitecaps players were shown yellow cards in the first half alone, with challenges coming hard and fast to stymie the Earthquakes.
Whether it was the road crowd or the effects of a Wednesday game, the Whitecaps wilted against the lively Earthquakes. A sign of things to come, Adam Jahn slipped behind the Whitecaps defense to apply the finish in the ninth minute. Only the assistant’s flag for offside saved the visitors.
As the second half continued, the Earthquakes looked more and more dangerous. Their steady rise culminated in a goal with 15 minutes remaining, with Matias Perez Garcia playing Cordell Cato in behind before the left back’s shot was blocked.
A second effort was also turned away before Nyassi ended the series and smashed home. It only spurred the Earthquakes on further, as minutes later Shea Salinas found enough space to fire a shot to the near left side and into David Ousted’s arms.
Even after the goal, hostilities persisted. In the 88th minute, Russell Teibert was called for a foul on Jahn, and Pedro Morales attempted to kick the ball away through the Earthquake striker’s legs. Jahn kicked back, and eventually both were shown straight red cards to take both teams down to 10 men.
That doused the flames, as the Earthquakes saw out their first win in three matches and the Whitecaps’ first loss in six. Vancouver’s chance to bounce back comes next Saturday on the road against Real Salt Lake, while the Earthquakes next have a Friday night kickoff against New York Red Bulls.
Uh, “rough-and-tumble?” Take a look at the cards. Vancouver had 5 yellows and a red all for aggressive play. San Jose had one yellow for a brain fart by Bingham and a dubious red on Jahn for reacting to Morales’ antics.
Vancouver has become very “English” with their agricultural approach to tackling. They lead the league in fouls and in yellow cards and its not even close in either category. If Mattocks doesn’t get a suspension and fine for his pretty deliberate elbow on Alashe, this league is clearly biased because it was far worse than what Emighara did last week. Laba should have gotten a yellow for his constant hacks on Perez which eventually put the latter out of the match. Laba’s only really skill is hacking from behind and Morales is a jerk. Robinson needed to scold his players after the match and not the officials because his team got way so lightly. His reaction makes it clear to me that he supports this type of play.
San Jose deserved the win for the quality of their play in the second half. It was the best that I’ve seen them play in ages. Vancouver looked tired and maybe a little over-confident.