Real-ity bites; Quakes lose 3-1

Tony Beltran, John Cunliffe in the 1-3 RSL win at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 31, 2008. Photo by Julie Fizer/isiphotos.com

One month after being dumped out of the U.S. Open Cup by Real Salt Lake, the San Jose Earthquakes had hoped that Saturday’s rematch, which included more of their first-choice lineup, would see the expansion side turn the tables on the home team. But while the faces had changed, the result stayed the same, as RSL got second half goals from Robbie Findley, Javier Morales, and Dema Kovalenko to claim a deserved 3-1 win.

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Substitute John Cunliffe scored the Quakes’ only goal, but that was one of the few bright spots on a night when San Jose’s attack reverted to the punchless form that has come to characterize the season.

“We did well in the first half and came into halftime 0-0, which away from home is what you try to do,” said Yallop. “Obviously a goal would’ve been good but we didn’t even really look like scoring the first half. It’s just disappointing the goals that went in, the first one was a good goal, it was a good strike by Robbie Findley, the second one looked a little easy but I’d have to look at them on tape.”

San Jose entered the match missing huge elements of their offense, with forward Kei Kamara and midfielder Ivan Guerrero both away on international duty, while Ronnie O’Brien’s right knee was spared having to play on the unforgiving turf of Rice-Eccles Stadium. RSL were missing suspended defender Ian Joy, as well as injured forward Yura Movsisyan, but were otherwise intact.

The Quakes nearly endured a nightmare start to the match when, with the game barely two minutes old, Ned Grabavoy was judged to have handled Morales’ free kick in the box. But the Argentine’s subsequent penalty was hit right in the wheelhouse of San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon, who not only saved the spot kick but didn’t give up a rebound.

The next twenty minutes were played out mostly in midfield, and while Ramiro Corrales and Joe Vide held the center well, San Jose was offering little in attack. Ryan Johnson was active early on, but new acquisition Jovan Kirovski contributed little.

Real eventually found success by pushing left back Chris Wingert into the attack and probing the right side of the Quakes defense, creating several dangerous chances as a result.

A Morales free kick in the 36^th minute was nodded against the post by Kenny Deuchar, despite Ryan Cochrane getting a fistful of jersey, and with a juicy rebound begging to be taken, Real’s Jamison Olave could only manage a weak shot that Cannon was able to touch wide.

The ensuing corner kick presented another clear opportunity for Olave, but the Colombian’s header flew just past the far post.

A sloppy clearance by Real defender Nat Borchers fell to the Quakes’ Shea Salinas in the 41^st minute, and a quick burst gave the rookie a brief look at goal, but his tame shot was hit straight at keeper Nick Rimando. It was one of the few times San Jose even got a sniff of goal during the first half.

Real meanwhile continued to create problems for the Quakes on set pieces. Another Morales corner in the 43^rd minute fell to Fabian Espindola, whose point blank-shot was turned away by Cannon.

That proved to be the last contribution of the night for Espindola who went off injured just a minute before half-time, and was replaced by Findley.

While the half-time whistle came not a moment too soon for San Jose, their fortunes didn’t’ improve after the break, with Morales shedding his goat horns and donning the hero’s cape.

Morales’ transformation began in the 48^th minute with some considerable help from Findley. The Argentine found out his teammate on the left wing with a long pass, and Findley danced around Quakes’ defender Jason Hernandez before unleashing a fierce shot from 25 yards that appeared to surprise Cannon, beating him to the near post.

A similar buildup four minutes later saw Real nearly double their lead. This time the long ball to the left wing picked out Kyle Beckerman, who cut inside and hit a rasping shot that was tipped over the bar by Cannon.

The ensuing corner was initially cleared, but the play was reset to Wingert, whose cross was headed away. Deuchar and Cochrane got tangled up on the play but Real’s furious appeals for another penalty ignored by referee Jorge Gonzalez.

Yallop brought on James Riley for Salinas in an effort to shore up the right side of his defense, but it had little effect, as Morales worked a one-two with Findley and slotted home Real’s second goal through Cannon’s legs.

The Quakes nearly hit back in the 70^th minute when a half-cleared corner kick was sent back towards goal. The pass found Johnson deep in the box, but his hard cross on the turn missed everyone.

Real put the game away in the 73^rd minute, with Williams winning a penalty when he was hauled down from behind by the Quakes’ Nick Garcia. The San Jose captain was shown a yellow card for his troubles, and Kovalenko made sure RSL didn’t squander the gift, sending Cannon the wrong way for his first goal of the season.

With the contest essentially over, Real eased off the pedal, and the Quakes pulled a goal back in the 84^th minute. Garcia won a ball just inside Real’s half, and his pass to Corrales was back-heeled into the path of Cunliffe, who evaded Olave long enough to hit a laser just inside Rimando’s near post.

Cunliffe nearly duplicated his effort five minutes later, but his long-range blast flew just wide. Had it gone in, it might have set up a tense finish, but Real were able to see out the match with little trouble.

“We’ve just got to get it going from the beginning,” said Garcia. “It just can’t be one of those things where they score a goal or two and then we get going. We’ve had a little bit of a roller coaster ride in the beginning of the season, with some wins and some ties and some losses, and for us we’ve got to get the ship on course. We’ve got to get that bitter taste out of our mouth and make the most of it.”

Removing that bitterness will take some doing. The Quakes find themselves sliding deeper into the Western Conference cellar with a road date with a revived Columbus side next up on the calendar. Given their continued struggles in attack, it seems likely that the results are set to stay the same for a while longer.