San Jose earthquakes lose 1-0 in order to go 3-0 for the first time in 28 years of history in MLS

SAN JOSE – The earthquakes of San Jose were trying to win their first three MLS games for the first time during their 28 seasons in the league.

Instead, they could not resolve the defense of Minnesota and lost 1-0 on Saturday evening in Paypal Park.

The New-Look Quakes dominated possession, controlling the ball for 68.4% of the game, having an advantage of 598-250 in passes and an advantage of 22-3 on the cross.

But San Jose took until the 68th minute to get his first shot on goal – an attempted box by the box by midfielder Ian Harkes – against the 5-3-2 formation of Minnesota, who only granted one goal this season.

“I think we tried everything to break the five line they put in the back,” said Captain Cristian Espinoza. “I think it is very difficult to have the opportunities to mark when they defend most of the game with nine players in the box. But we must continue to work, continue to improve ourselves, because probably during this season, we will face this situation again and we must be ready. »»

The only goal of the match was missed by the Bruno Wilson center, whose customs clearance attempt has entered the air directly. The ball reached the Minnesota striker, Kelvin Yeboah, who was not marked in front of the goal and took advantage of the 32nd minute.

Yeboah, who entered on Saturday with a 14 -shooting summit and the only goal of Minnesota, succeeded four shots (three on the target) against the quakes.

“We obviously did not do a good job on the goal, not to properly clean the ball and not do a good job for the player who finished,” said coach Bruce Arena. “Bad defense on our part on this particular piece.”

The two teams now have 2-1-0.

The additions of the offseason of the attacker of the Colombian star Chicko Arango and Josef Martinez, who is seventh of all time in MLS in goals, was to relaunch the offensive of the first season of Arena. But that did not help on Saturday against Minnesota, who has lost only one of his last 13 games against San Jose in all competitions.

“Obviously, they defended very well, physically large in their back line and treated very well with a lot,” said Arena. “They have a very good defensive posture and they were difficult to break down and we must be a little more clean to create other chances. Our team played hard, played well, but not good enough to get a goal and at least leave the field with a point. »»

The Quakes were 2-0 for the first time since 2017 after winning its first 4-0 match, then beat the Kansas City 2-1 host last week, despite 10 men for the last 30 minutes.

The programming remained the same on Saturday evening, with the exception of a forced change. The record signature of Hernan Lopez served an automatic suspension of a match after receiving the red card at Kansas City, then Amahl Pellegrino took its place as an offensive midfielder. Arena said Lopez’s absence was not a reason for the lack of production.

Although this is the first setback of the season for the Quakes, it was always a more optimistic performance than most games last season, when San Jose had the worst MLS record (6-25-3) and granted a record for the 78 goals.

Daniel (five judgments) was exceptional in the objectives, and the defense was solid apart from the failure of the authorization. But the offensive has not been able to create quality chances.

Despite 70% of the possession in the first half, the Quakes had only two shots and 0.21 goals expected. He rallied for 13 shots (three to goal) in the second half while he was trying to return, but could not perceive.

San Jose finished with an advantage of 15-10 in shots, but Minnesota had an advantage of 1.9-1.5 in the expected goals.