Quakes battle Chivas USA to 2-2 result on the road

The San Jose Earthquakes once again showed their pedigree as spoilers Saturday night, earning a 2-2 tie with first-place Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center in Carson and running their undefeated streak on the road to four games behind a pair of assists from defender Chris Leitch and a strong performance from rookie goalkeeper Andrew Weber.

“It was an interesting and entertaining game, and it’s a good point for us,” said Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop. “I thought it was well-deserved, and it’s good to come to a place like this and score two goals away from home, it was very good. We are on a good run, we have learned as a team to become difficult to break down. This has shown the growth of our team, and we have gotten some good results on the road to show for it.”

The match did not start well for the Earthquakes, who showed how much they missed injured central defender Jason Hernandez by getting caught out of position early. In the 7th minute, the Earthquakes tried a quick restart after a Chivas foul when Arturo Alvarez was stopped cold by a sliding tackle from Sacha Kljestan, who immediately leapt to his feet and sent a long ball downfield for a sprinting Maykel Galindo.  Galindo began his run from the Chivas half of the field, enabling him to both stay on side and get behind Earthquakes center backs Brandon McDonald and Bobby Burling. Just as McDonald finally drew level with the Cuban forward, Galindo fired a low shot that beat San Jose goalkeeper Andrew Weber at the near post.

The Goats threatened on another counter in the 16th minute, once again off a San Jose free kick. Simon Elliott launched the dead ball into the Chivas penalty area, where it was gobbled up by Zach Thornton, who immediately distributed the ball down the left side to Galindo. Galindo dodged a tackle from Shea Salinas and sprinted toward goal, eventually dishing the ball to an unmarked Michael Lahoud on the right side. He managed to chip the ball over an onrushing Weber, but his shot drifted wide of the net.

San Jose finally benefited from one of their free kick opportunities in the 21st minute. Kljestan fouled Salinas on the right side near the midfield stripe. Earthquakes right back Chris Leitch found Salinas on the restart, and the second-year winger fired an inch-perfect cross to the far post, where McDonald’s textbook downward header beat Thornton to equalize the match. It was his first goal as an Earthquake.

“Shea (Salinas) swung a world-class ball in; I was free at the back post and was able to get a clean head on the ball and put it in the goal,” said McDonald. “It means a lot, coming to a new franchise. With the amount of games I have played and going up on a lot of free kicks, I feel confident now that I got one.”

Chivas tried to impose themselves on the game in the 35th minute, with Lahoud again providing the danger. After a patient buildup that took nearly a full minute to unfold, Lahoud fired a low shot from 20 yards that Weber parried past the post at full extension. The subsequent corner was met by the head of Ben Braun, but his shot was cleared off the line by Alvarez and the threat was finally curtailed.

The second half began much the same as the first: with a dangerous counter-attack from Chivas USA. Defender Yamith Cuesta broke up a San Jose attack and fired the ball downfield, where he was perhaps fortunate to find Kljestan. Kljestan found Galindo at the midfield stripe, and the Cuban returned the favor after dribbling the ball to the edge of the 18. Kljestan then cut inside and pushed the ball gently into the Galindo’s path, but his shot off the turn was parried by a Weber kick save.

Some sterling combination play from San Jose nearly put the Earthquakes on top in the 52nd minute. Alvarez took a throw in and beat two players before playing a give-and-go with Convey, whose deep cross found Ryan Johnson just eight yards from goal. Johnson put too much power behind his left-footed show, however, and launched it wide of the goal.

Johnson made amends for his earlier miss in the 57th minute, and once again it was Leitch who played provider. After Ante Jazic took down Shea Salinas on the right side of the field, Leitch stepped up and sent a long free kick to the far post, where Johnson’s looping header sailed over Thornton before arcing under the crossbar for a 2-1 San Jose lead. It was Johnson’s team-leading 11th goal of the season, extending his career-best season tally.

Chivas found their equalizer in the 66th minute. After receiving the ball just outside the box, Kljestan was dispossessed momentarily by the San Jose defense, but recovered enough to pass to Justin Braun outside the box. Braun found Jazic on the left side, and the Canada international floated a ball back into the middle that found Braun. Weber came for the ball but missed it, leaving Braun with an easy finish to score his third goal in four career games against San Jose.

The home side looked to regain the lead in the 71st minute, as Braun’s backheel set up second-half substitute Maicon Santos for a shot from 12 yards. Weber proved equal to the task, however, managing to get his body in front of the shot to parry it wide.

An extended period of San Jose pressure led to another opportunity in the 79th minute. A long throw from McDonald on the right side was cleared as far as Convey, who slipped the ball back to McDonald. His ball into the box found Johnson, but his header went just wide.

Most of the late chances belonged to San Jose, but Chivas nearly got their third goal — and all three points — in the second minute of stoppage time. Once again, it was Kljestan carving up the San Jose defense on a counter, this time with a diagonal through ball that put Braun in on goal. An alert Weber challenged Braun at the top of the box, getting enough of the ball to knock it away from the Chivas forward before diving on it.

“He played well, made some good saves, especially one early down to his left,” Yallop said, complimenting his young keeper. “The one late on Braun is a game-winner, he was clean through and Andrew came off his line bravely, and makes the save. He has had two good games, is unbeaten, and he has done well.”

McDonald, who scored San Jose’s first goal on the night, was already looking forward to next week’s match at Home Depot Center against the L.A. Galaxy.  “I think we could have come away with the victory tonight, but at the same time, it’s good to get a point against a good side that is going to the playoffs. Looking forward to next week we are trying to have the same kind of game plan as tonight. We want to play hard, give one hundred percent effort and get another good result against another quality side.”

The result hurts Chivas USA’s chances of taking home the Supporters’ Shield, the prize for the MLS team with the best regular season record. It was another strong result for San Jose, but will leave team and fans alike wondering why the team has waited until they were out of playoff contention to play some of their best soccer of the year.

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San Jose Earthquakes (7-13-9) at Chivas USA (13-9-6)
Oct. 17, 2009 – Home Depot Center
Attendance: 12,316

Scoring Summary: CHV – Maykel Galindo (Sacha Kljestan) 7; SJ – Brandon McDonald (Shea Salinas, Chris Leitch) 21; SJ – Ryan Johnson (Chris Leitch) 58; CHV – Justin Braun (Ante Jazic) 66.

Misconduct Summary:  CHV – Yamith Cuesta (caution) 36; CHV – Maicon Santos (caution) 74.

San Jose Earthquakes – Andrew Weber, Chris Leitch, Bobby Burling, Brandon McDonald, Ramiro Corrales, Shea Salinas, Ramon Sanchez, Simon Elliott, Bobby Convey, Arturo Alvarez (Quincy Amarikwa 74), Ryan Johnson.

Statistics:  Shots 8; Shots on Goal 2; Saves 8; Fouls 3; Offsides 2; Corner Kicks 3.

Chivas USA: — Zach Thornton, Carey Talley, Jonathan Bornstein, Yamith Cuesta, Ante Jazic, Michael Lahoud (Jesus Padilla 65), Jesse Marsch (Maicon Santos 58), Paulo Nagamura, Sacha Kljestan, Justin Braun, Maykel Galindo (Eduardo Lillingston 77).

Statistics:  Shots 20; Shots on Goal 11; Saves 0; Fouls 16; Offsides 3; Corner Kicks 8.