Quakes outwork Crew for 2-0 win

Ryan Johnson delivered the goods against the Columbus Crew. File photo by John Todd-centerlinesoccer.com/isiphotos.com.

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

The San Jose Earthquakes put in a gritty performance to earn a 2-0 road win over the Columbus Crew Saturday evening, giving the side their second win in their last three games and bringing the Crew’s run of futility to four matches without a goal.

“I thought it was a fantastic road performance by the team,” said San Jose coach Frank Yallop. “We fought for every ball and made it miserable for Columbus to play against us. I am proud of the performance tonight.”

Both sides saw changes to the lineups from their previous games. Forward John Cunliffe won his first start for the Quakes after scoring last week against Real Salt Lake, and Nick Garcia’s knee injury gave James Riley an opportunity for his first start since his embarrassing own-goal against New England. Ronnie O’Brien also rejoined the starting lineup after back spasms kept him sidelined last week. For the Crew, Danny O’Rourke’s red-card suspension brought Jed Zayner from the developmental squad and into the starting lineup at left back.

Zayner’s inexperience made an obvious target for the San Jose attack, and the Quakes didn’t wait long to test him. Six minutes into the match, a lofted pass from Riley put O’Brien behind Zayner, but the Irishman’s cross was just over Cunliffe’s head.

O’Brien had another chance to put in a cross just four minutes later, and this time he didn’t miss. Forwards Cunliffe and Ryan Johnson hounded the 36-year-old Ezra Hendrickson to win possession deep in Columbus territory, forcing Chad Marshall to make a sliding clearance. The ball bounced out to the right touchline, but O’Brien captured it, sending in a deadly accurate cross when Zayner failed to close him down. The ball arced just over a leaping Hendrickson to a surging Johnson, who snapped a header that Columbus keeper Will Hesmer touched but could not stop, giving the Quakes an early 1-0 lead.

“I know that when Ronnie (O’Brien) gets the ball on the right wing, he likes to whip it in early so I had to be ready,” said Johnson. “I just jumped and tried to get my head on it and I was able to put it in.

“Getting that early goal really helped us tonight. It gave us confidence and really put them on their heels. We have not been scoring a lot this season so hopefully we can keep this going next week.”

While San Jose was pushing the ball down the right side to take advantage of the O’Brien/Zayner mismatch, Columbus was trying to set the speedy Nigerian Emmanuel Ekpo loose against Ramiro Corrales and Eric Denton, the pair manning the left side of the field for the Quakes. The plan nearly saw success in the 19th minute, when Ekpo beat Denton on the dribble after bringing down a long ball from Hesmer, but his dangerous low cross into the box was cut out with a sliding clearance from Jason Hernandez.

Columbus finally threatened the San Jose goal on a counterattack in the 30th minute. Cunliffe, looking for an overlapping Riley down the right wing, played a weak ball that was cut out by Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers, who immediately sprinted downfield, eventually finding Moreno in the left corner. San Jose had retreated in numbers, though, and Moreno’s cross was easily cleared by Denton.

Columbus had another dangerous counter in the 33rd minute, with Guillermo Barros Schelotto playing a ball into space in the left corner for Moreno. An alert Cannon won the race to the ball, however, banging it off the Venezuelan for a San Jose throw in. The play also saw Riley earn a yellow card after Rogers collided with him at midfield. Replays revealed the collision to be accidental, but the card would come back to haunt Riley later.

Zayner may have been a defensive liability for the Crew, but he nearly made up for it on the offensive side of the ball. In the 35th minute, Zayner latched onto a ball cleared from San Jose’s penalty area and launched an audacious half-volley from 30 yards out. The knuckling drive swerved over Cannon, dipping dangerously before it banged off the crossbar.

The game took a further turn in San Jose’s favor late in the first half. A series of Columbus corner kicks ended with Hendrickson nodding the ball wide, but the lanky defender suffered a groin injury on the play. Crew coach Sigi Schmid had already been forced to pull Marshall from the match with a neck injury in the 27th minute, replacing him with rookie Andy Iro, and Hendrickson’s departure for Ryan Junge — total MLS experience, 15 minutes — meant the Crew back line would be manned by three inexperienced players and U.S. international Frankie Hejduk for the second half.

The early minutes after the break saw the Quakes trying to control the match by asserting themselves in midfield, with Columbus looking alternately to utilize their speed on the wings and get the ball to Schelotto in dangerous positions. While Columbus succeeded in winning a few corners, they failed to create any dangerous opportunities until the 59th minute, when they almost hit pay dirt.

The Crew’s Brad Evans held the ball deep in the corner off a Crew throw, finally tucking the ball forward to an overlapping Ekpo. Ekpo ran along the end line before cutting the ball back to Schelotto, and the Argentine looked to fire the ball into the San Jose net from 10 yards until Ned Grabavoy made a key sliding tackle to deflect the shot back off Schelotto, giving the Quakes a welcome reprieve and a goal kick.

The end-to-end action continued a minute later as Grabavoy won another ball, this time at midfield, and a long, diagonal ball from Corrales found Cunliffe in the right corner. Cunliffe poked a tricky backheel past Iro and a foul was whistled after the rookie obstructed Cunliffe’s run just outside the Columbus penalty area near the end line. It proved a fatal mistake as Corrales headed home O’Brien’s free kick, the ball bulging the back of the Crew net to give San Jose a 2-0 lead with a half-hour to go.

With a growing air of desperation, it began to look as though the Crew’s main attacking strategy was to draw fouls in dangerous places. They won a series of calls and nearly got on the board in the 67th minute.

After a foul to the right of the San Jose penalty area, Schelotto played a quick restart to a streaking Hejduk, who put a dangerous cross into the box as he neared the end line. Moreno knocked the ball past Cannon and into the net, but Salazar recognized that the forward’s diving header was actually a diving handball, and Moreno was rewarded with a yellow card instead of a goal.

The game ended on an ugly note with a pair of red cards. Columbus went down to 10 men in the 79th minute when a frustrated Evans made a late, high tackle on Kelly Gray, earning himself a straight red and a quick trip to the showers. The playing field was evened five minutes later when James Riley, who had already been shown a yellow card after his accidental collision with Rogers in the first half, made a clumsy challenge on Rogers, earning a second yellow from Salazar.

“We played a good road game tonight,” added O’Brien, whose artful right foot assisted on both San Jose goals. “This was an important game for us and we did what we needed to do to get the win. Columbus is a good side and they put the pressure on us at the end, but we defended well and got three points.”

San Jose’s second road win gives them 10 points on the season, pulling them to within five points of first place in the Western Conference. The win also marks the Quakes’ third clean sheet on the season. With their scoreless streak reaching four games, Columbus continues their slide in the East.

Next up for the Quakes is a match in Oakland against Los Angeles this coming Saturday, June 14.