The San Jose Earthquakes sprang no surprises in their 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night, extending the club’s winless streak to seven matches in all competitions. Mikael Stahre’s men stuck to the recent script with an early goal and late first-half collapse, mirroring their 4-3 defeat to LAFC on Saturday. On this occasion, however, Danny Hoesen’s second half-strike preserved a point, but a home draw is hardly enough for a team thirteen points adrift from a playoff position.
San Jose started positively, with Vako testing Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner and Danny Hoesen flashing a low effort narrowly wide. The Quakes’ high press yielded dangerous opportunities up top and it took only sixteen minutes to capitalize through Hoesen, whose runs in behind were a constant threat on the night. Florian Jungwirth set up the goal with a smart tackle in the middle, which fell for Hoesen to tuck into the bottom corner.
However, the same high press also left the Quakes exposed defensively, and Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez ran ragged the home side’s back-line. The Uruguayan midfielder capitalized on San Jose’s sloppy build-up, intercepting Francois Affolter’s errant pass and drawing a huge one-on-one save from Andrew Tarbell. Kellyn Rowe’s low effort also forced the goalkeeper into action, and it wasn’t long before the Revolution had their equalizer as Fagundez curled a gorgeous free-kick into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.
In familiar fashion, the Quakes fell apart. Although Vako hit the base of the post and curled at Turner from twenty yards, San Jose again committed too many men forward and were hit on the break by Fagundez, who set up Cristian Penilla to finish shortly before the half.
Captain Chris Wondolowski blamed mental lapses for San Jose’s collapse, saying: “Our defense is good when we’re in our [groove], but we let up another in transition. It’s the exact same thing that happened in Portland, which we talked about over and over. The second goal is the exact same thing. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot and making mental mistakes…when we don’t track runners and try to be too passive, we get punished, and rightfully so.”
The Revs could have buried the match early in the second half, with Krisztián Nemeth heading wide and Penilla’s close-range effort forcing a huge reaction save from Tarbell. However, Hoesen’s towering header promptly brought San Jose level. The Quakes threw more men forward as the second half progressed but, once again this season, it wasn’t quite enough.
PHOTO: ISI
