The Earthquakes Drop Points In A 2-0 Loss To Columbus
By Jesse Tapia
The San Jose Earthquakes drop important points in a 2-0 loss to the struggling Columbus Crew.
The San Jose Earthquakes traveled to Columbus, Ohio to face off with the Columbus Crew as the Quakes were looking to jump ahead of Portland and finally take over the sixth spot in the west. San Jose failed to do so losing by a score of 2-0.
The Earthquakes made a few changes to the lineup Saturday inserting Fatai Alashe back into the midfield, Andres Imperiale in as a center-back, and Henok Goitom up top with Chris Wondolowski. Goitom entered the lineup due to an injury striker Quincy Amarikwa picked up in Wednesday’s match against Houston.
The early part of the first half consisted of Columbus doing most of the attacking as they took five shots and forced San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham to make a good save within the first 20 minutes.
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Columbus continued to put the pressure on the Earthquakes and were rewarded for it. Midfielder Justin Meram sent a cross to the back post where an unmarked Ethan Finlay connected with the ball and put it in the back of the net in the 32nd minute of the match. The rest of the first half was got worse for the Earthquakes as their defense looked out of sync on the outside and goalkeeper David Bingham exited the match just before halftime with what looked to be a lower-back injury. Quakes backup keeper Andrew Tarbell made his club debut as he entered the match to replace Bingham.
The first half ended with Columbus up 1-0 but the Quakes were lucky to only be down by one goal.
Things continued to get worse for the Earthquakes in the second half when Victor Bernardez picked up an injury and left the match in the 58th minute. Defender Marvell Wynne came in to replace Bernardez.
San Jose didn’t do much to get back into the game in the second half. Columbus wasn’t putting on the pressure like they did so in the first half but they did control the match. They simply out-worked San Jose. Defender Marvell Wynne committed a foul in the box and that resulted in a goal from the penalty spot by midfielder Justin Meram in the 84th minute.
The Earthquakes played much worse than the scoreboard showed.
The Earthquakes played much worse than the scoreboard showed. The Earthquakes looked out of sync the entire match. They created little scoring chances, could hold possession of the ball, and were weak on the outside of the defense. Nothing went right for this team and losing two of your most important players due to injury in the match doesn’t help the current situation.
This was one of the worst all around performances the Earthquakes have shown this season. The Earthquakes next match will take place in San Jose against the Seattle Sounders in what could yet again help the Quakes move to sixth in the standings. We will see if the Earthquakes can somehow take advantage of another opportunity.