SAN JOSE, California (Sunday, September 27, 2015) – Real Salt Lake dodged several bullets in its third and final match against the San Jose Earthquakes this season. Over the course of 90 minutes, Salt Lake was outshot 20-6, with two of RSL’s shots coming in the final eight minutes of the match. GK Nick Rimando made four saves, including one highlight-reel stop in the second half. Ultimately, a deflected ball off the foot of Matias Perez Garcia proved to be the difference though, as RSL fell 1-0 at Avaya Stadium in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s fifth match in 16 days.
In a physical match that saw eight yellow cards handed out, the first scoring chance came off an RSL turnover in the midfield. Quincy Amarikwa picked off an errant pass at midfield and carried it into the attack before leading Shea Salinas into the box. He juked DF Jordan Allen, then crossed it, but DF Jamison Olave cleared the danger for a corner kick and the match remained scoreless in the 20th minute.
In the 25th minute, San Jose nearly snared the lead on a corner kick. Perez Garcia bent the corner kick into traffic and Rimando cleared it off the line. Chris Wondolowski put back the rebound, but it was blocked off the line by FW Devon Sandoval to keep the Earthquakes off the board and a final effort by Anibal Godoy sailed high and wide.
Another flurry from San Jose threatened to break the deadlock in the 35th minute, as Salinas hit the post from the left side. Wondolowski’s second effort was blocked, then Amarikwa touch eluded him as the ball spilled into the waiting arms of Rimando.
RSL held the first-half possession edge with 52-percent of the ball, but San Jose outshot Salt Lake 10-1 in a scoreless first half.
In the 51st minute, that nearly changed as Salinas found Wondolowski on the doorstep only to have Rimando come from out of nowhere to negate his effort. Salinas carried up the left side of the box and cut the ball across the edge of the six to Wondolowski for a first-time effort, but Rimando ranged across the goal mouth to make the goal-line save in a highlight-reel effort.
RSL had two near-misses in the final 20 minutes, with MF Kyle Beckerman lasering a free kick toward the top corner, but missing just wide as David Bingham got his fingertips to the 74th minute shot. The in the 82nd minute, FW Juan Manuel Martinez led second-half substitute FW Olmes Garcia up the right side. Garcia’s cross found FW Joao Plata alone in front of an open net, but Plata couldn’t pull the trigger and the ball skipped away for a goal kick, setting the stage for some late San Jose heroics.
In the 87th minute, Victor Bernardez played a long free kick to Amarikwa at the edge of the box. He chested the ball down and Perez Garcia charged on it, thumping it toward the far post, but it took a deflection, leaving Rimando moving in the wrong direction as it caromed into the net for the lone goal of the match as San Jose took three points with a 1-0 score.
RSL FW Sebastian Jaime had one last-gasp effort to equalize in stoppage time, but his header from the middle of the box missed just over the crossbar and the match ended 1-0.
Salt Lake will regroup after the rigorous two-week schedule before returning to the field on Sunday, October 4 against the Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
GAME NOTES – SJvRSL
- RSL MF Javier Morales traveled for the match but did not suit up after suffering a strained hip flexor in a substitute appearance against Santa Tecla FC on Thursday. During that match, he registered two assists to bring his all-competition season totals to 10 goals and 13 assists.
- Salt Lake went 3-1-1 over a stretch of five matches in 16 days. That included three road matches, matches in three different time zones and two different competitions.
- The goal from Matias Perez Garcia was the 14th goal allowed by RSL in the final 15 minutes of a match, accounting for 33-percent of the 42 goals RSL has allowed this season. Of those 14 goals, six have been game-winners.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 1-0 REAL SALT LAKE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2015
AVAYA STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 F
San Jose Earthquakes 0 1 1
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
SJ: Matias Perez Garcia (Quincy Amarikwa, Victor Bernardez) 87’.
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Anibal Godoy (Yellow; Foul) 34’
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (Yellow; Encroachment) 63’
SJ – Marc Pelosi (Yellow; Persistent Infringement) 73’
SJ – Chris Wondolowski (Yellow; Dissent) 74’
SJ – Matias Perez Garcia (Yellow; Foul) 77’
RSL – Tony Beltran (Yellow; Foul) 84’
SJ – Matias Perez Garcia (Yellow; Excessive Celebration) 88’
SJ – Matias Perez Garcia (Red; Second Yellow) 88’
RSL – Aaron Maund (Yellow; Foul) 90’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-3-3): Nick Rimando; Jordan Allen (Demar Phillips 55’), Jamison Olave, Aaron Maund, Tony Beltran; Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mulholland, Luis Silva (Olmes Garcia 59’); Juan Manuel Martinez, Devon Sandoval (Sebastian Jaime 84’), Joao Plata.
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Elias Vasquez, John Stertzer, Pecka.
San Jose Earthquakes (4-4-2): David Bingham; Marvell Wynne, Fatai Alashe, Victor Bernardez, Shaun Francis (Sanna Nyassi 83’); Matias Perez Garcia, Anibal Godoy, Marc Pelosi (Tommy Thompson 87’), Shea Salinas; Chris Wondolowski, Quincy Amarikwa (JJ Koval 89’).
Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Leandro Barrera, Cordell Cato, Adam Jahn.
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Mike Rottersman
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
Attendance: 18,000
Weather: Mostly cloudy and 77
