Santa Clara, Calif. – The Philadelphia Union (10-9-9) fell to the San Jose
Earthquakes, 1-0 Sunday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, as a 15th
minute goal from Shea Salinas was enough to see the home side get all
three points. Despite the result, the Union remain in playoff contention
as the club is currently in fourth place
in Eastern Conference standings.
“I’m
extremely disappointed. We let an opportunity to separate ourselves in
the table slip by having a poor performance out here in San Jose,” Team
Manager John Hackworth
said after the match. “You’ve got to give credit to the Earthquakes,
though. They’re a good team; they make it hard on you. They bring so
much pressure. But at the same time, we didn’t have a lot of quality, in
particular the first half.”
The Earthquakes struck first in the 15th
minute, as former Union player Salinas slipped in behind the
defense and put a ball past MacMath. Salinas bumped
Union defender Sheanon Williams on his way through, but no foul was
given and the Earthquake midfielder made no mistake to put the home side
ahead.
The
Union came out of the locker room unchanged after halftime, and came
near to an equalizer minutes after the start of the second half. Keon
Daniel found himself on
the edge of the 18 when he fired a right-footed shot at the net. The
ball found its way through the San Jose defense and bounced off the
outside of the post, keeping the score 1-0.
“I
thought we played better to start the second half. We settled down a
little bit and started connecting a little bit. They were playing a
really high line, too,” said
Hackworth. “You’ve got to be intelligent about the type of soccer
you’re playing. We sorted some things out at halftime, but we lost that
game in the first half.”
San Jose’s Rafael Baca received a second yellow card for a challenge on Conor Casey in the 57th
minute, sending him off for the match. The midfielder went in
with both feet on a challenge and caught the Union forward before the
referee put him in the book. With an extra man to finish the game, the
Union went on the offensive, creating numerous chances in the final 30
minutes.
“When
they went down to a man, it made so much of our life easier, and made a
lot of our life harder because they stuck so many people behind the
ball,” Hackworth said.
“We certainly created chances, but didn’t find the final touch.”
In
total, Philadelphia had 15 attempts on goal and forced San Jose
goalkeeper Jon Busch to make four saves. The final minutes of the game
saw the Union hold steady possession
inside the Earthquakes’ half with sustained pressure on goal, but were
unable to find the end product to put the ball in the net.
“We’ve
got to hold ourselves accountable to a higher standard than we did
tonight,” Hackworth noted. “That level of play is unacceptable for this
club and this organization,
all the way around.”
The Union will look to put this game behind them quickly, as the club faces Eastern Conference side Houston Dynamo next Saturday at PPL Park (7:30 p.m., TCN). Houston
currently is just two points behind Philadelphia, who sit at fourth, in the Eastern Conference standings.
“We’ve
done a good job being able to rebound off loses; we haven’t lost two
games in a row all season,” forward Antoine Hoppenot said postgame. “We
have a home game next
week and we need three points. It’s vital we get three points. I think
we’ll go out there and put a lot of pressure on them and hopefully get
the three points.”
San Jose Earthquakes 1, Philadelphia Union 0
Sunday, Sept. 8; 11:00 p.m. ET
Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.
SCORING SUMMARY
SJ: Salinas (Cronin) 15’
DISCIPLINARY SUMMARY
PHI: Cruz (caution) 16’
PHI: McInerney (caution) 20’
PHI: Daniel (caution) 36’
SJ: Baca (caution) 45’
SJ: Baca (second yellow; red) 58’
SJ: Gordon (caution) 63’
SJ: Lenhart (caution) 91’
UNION STARTING 11
MacMath, Gaddis (Wheeler 78’), Parke, Williams, Fabinho, Carroll, Cruz (Farfan 60’) Daniel, Le Toux, McInerney (Hoppenot 70’), Casey.
Substitutions not used: Nikolov, Kassel, Kleberson, Fernandes.
EARTHQUAKES STARTING 11
Busch, Beitashour, Hernandez, Morrow, Stewart, Cato (Jahn 86’)m, Baca, Bronin, Salinas, Gordon (Lenhart 71’), Wondolowski.
Substitutions not used: Bingham, Alas, Corrales, Gargan, Martinez.
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