DC quality outpaces Quakes in 3-1 victory

San Jose Earthquakes’ forward Ryan Johnson (19) shields the ball from DC United defender Gonzalo Peralta (2). Photo by Jose Argueta/isiphotos.com

(Por este articulo en español, haga clic aqui.)

(UPDATED) It took a moment of brilliance to separate the sides in DC United’s 3-1 home victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium. It came courtesy of Gonzalo Martinez, a Colombian defender who spent several seasons in Italy’s Serie A, who scored the game winner with an outstanding individual effort that ended with his shot ringing off the inside of the post, breaking up a deadlocked match and showing yet again the importance that quality finishing can make.

It was a result that the Earthquakes will have to chalk up to experience. All week, the team’s coaches and players spoke of the importance of bringing the proper aggressive attitude to each match, and they succeeded in unleashing that determination against DC. Attitude alone can’t win matches, though — there needs to be quality as well, and in that, the Quakes were lacking.

With game-time temperatures pushing the 90 degree mark, the afternoon match promised to be a test of endurance as well as skill. Despite those high temperatures, both teams came out strong at the beginning, moving the ball at high tempo. DC, resurgent after a slow start to their 2008 campaign, started strongest, but their spell of early dominance lasted just five minutes before San Jose took their turn at setting the pace of the proceedings. Neither team was able to create much in the way of scoring opportunities through the first 15 minutes, however.

The first threat to break the deadlock came in the 16th minute, when a through ball from Marcelo Gallardo put DC striker Luciano Emilio behind the San Jose defense. The Brazilian rolled a shot to the far post from about 12 yards out, but the ball bounced harmlessly off the post and San Jose regained possession easily.

The Earthquakes’ attack showed some new wrinkles throughout the match. Rather than relying on crosses and long balls aimed at target man Ryan Johnson, San Jose added a smattering of long shots to vary the attack, mainly from Ronnie O’Brien. O’Brien’s first long-range attempt sailed harmlessly over, but he fired again from about 35 yards in the 18th minute and forced United keeper Zach Wells into action.

“I thought Ronnie played well today. There were some good performances by us,” said Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop. “And when you look at a 3-1 loss it’s disappointing but again I think we had some good chances to at least score two goals today.”

The Quakes threatened again a few minutes later, showing yet another dimension to their attack. After an impressive stretch of possession that saw them move the ball around their offensive third at will, right back James Riley and forward John Cunliffe nearly put the Quakes on the board. The play began at midfield, with an overlapping Riley receiving a pass from O’Brien. Riley pushed the ball into space outside the DC penalty area, and Cunliffe beat DC’s Devon McTavish on the turn and carried the ball to the edge of the penalty area before laying the ball off for an onrushing Riley. Riley shot off balance, though, and the ball sailed over the DC goal.

A mirror-image near miss took place in the 30th minute, this time on the left wing with Ryan Johnson and Ivan Guerrero taking the places of Cunliffe and Riley. Again it was O’Brien who initiated the sequence, passing from the midfield circle to Johnson, who spun defender Ryan Namoff with a series of step-overs before laying the ball off to Guerrero, who was making a barnstorming overlapping run from midfield. Guerrero took the ball in stride, touching it once and then unleashing a fierce shot that Wells was lucky to parry onto the post.

Guerrero had another chance five minutes later. With DC United pushing forward on an attack, San Jose’s Ramiro Corrales helped win possession for the Quakes and then launched a ball down the left side on the counterattack. Guerrero and United keeper Wells raced for the ball, with the midfielder getting a toe to the ball just as Wells dove for it, but his touch pushed the ball too far, forcing him to stretch awkwardly to reach the ball at the end line. His off-balance attempt at crossing the ball resulted in a goal kick.

The teams traded chances as the game neared the break. DC United’s Gallardo tested Cannon from 22 yards after a backheel from Emilio opened up some space for him, and Cunliffe put a shot just wide after Johnson headed a long ball into his path in the 42nd minute.

The half ended at 0-0, but the Quakes had held their own and some would say they held the run of play. “I thought we created some good chances and we limited D.C. to not many chances in the first half, other than [Luciano] Emilio who had a chance that hit the post,” said Yallop. “We had our chances in the first half. John [Cunliffe] had a couple of sniffs and Ryan Johnson with a chance on a set play. But it’s just disappointing that we can’t seem to get playing well and get the right time to score. That’s been our problem really.”

“In the first half we played really well,” agreed O’Brien. “We created a lot of chances. For the most part we were happy at halftime.”

Things would change dramatically after the break, due to a combination of bad luck and Peralta’s skill. The trouble started in the 49th minute, with DC United pressing forward in numbers. Martinez carried the ball through midfield and cut inside before laying the ball off to Emilio outside the box. Emilio faked a shot and cut to his left before running out of room, but he managed to drop the ball at the feet of halftime sub Ryan Cordeiro, who had come on for Marc Burch. Cordeiro passed the ball back to Clyde Simms, who fired an ambitious shot from 30 yards towards the San Jose net. Riley got a foot to the ball as it sailed into the area, but his touch only served to redirect the ball past Joe Cannon, who watched helplessly as it bounced in slow motion into the net.

“I hate to say luck but we got a couple of unlucky plays where a little deflection causes a goal,” said Gray, who proved his versatility again with another strong performance in central defense. “Their first goal was just unlucky. Joe [Cannon] was close to saving that, it was just a bad touch by James [Riley] but you can’t really fault him on that because he was trying to block a shot.”

“I know there (were) a lot of bodies in front of me and the mouth of the goal so I tried to keep it low and hard and fortunately I got a nice deflection,” said Simms.

San Jose responded immediately with a fluke goal of their own. Johnson chested down a long ball from Gray on the right flank, beating his marker and sprinting for the end line. He fired a cross through the six yard box, aiming for Guerrero’s far-post run, but the ball was cut out with a dive from Wells. The DC keeper bobbled the ball, however, and Cunliffe pounced, knocking the ball over the goal line before Namoff could clear it and leveling the score at 1-1.

The two goals provided the game with a jolt of adrenaline, and play opened up considerably afterwards. Unfortunately for the Quakes, it was DC who benefited, capping a lengthy run of possession with Martinez’s masterpiece in the 55th minute.

The play began with a pass from Gallardo, the former River Plate and AS Monaco star, who found Martinez on the left side. He dribbled to the end line but was denied the space to make a cross by O’Brien. Instead, Martinez created space by retreating and cutting the ball back to his right foot. His curled shot beat Cannon before caroming off the inside of the far post and into the San Jose net for a 2-1 DC lead.

“Their second goal, you have to give it to them,” said Earthquakes defender Kelly Gray. “It was a good goal, nothing you can do about that.”

“It was a bit of a wonder goal with the second one,” said Yallop, who responded by bringing on Shea Salinas for Cunliffe moments later.

The move almost paid immediate dividends as the Quakes nearly drew level in the 73rd minute, with Salinas at center stage. Corrales threaded a pass through DC’s midfield to meet a well-timed Salinas run that started about 30 yards from goal. The speedy rookie touched the ball past a diving Wells, but his shot was cleared off the line by a sliding McTavish.

The Earthquakes’ hopes for a comeback were shattered in the 85th minute, when Riley was red-carded for a dangerous tackle on McTavish as the two challenged for a loose ball. Riley also seemed to hurt his left knee on the play and required assistance in leaving the field.

“It looked like a mistimed tackle and I haven’t seen it on DVD or video but he’s not a dirty player and he’s going for the ball and I think he just mistimed it,” noted Yallop.

DC scored their third goal of the match in the 88th minute, again benefitting from a deflection in the San Jose box, with Emilio finishing a counterattack that started with a Quakes corner kick. Corrales nearly netted in stoppage time, but his 35-yard free kick clattered off the crossbar.

“We definitely fought hard and didn’t want to give them the win but they’re a good team, very good at scoring goals and they showed that tonight,” said Earthquakes forward Johnson. “We fought hard, we didn’t just give up and that’s one positive we can take out of this game today.”

The result leaves San Jose at the bottom of the Western Conference with a 3-8-2 record. Next up for the Quakes is a match on Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill., against the Chicago Fire.