The San Jose Earthquakes won 2-0 at home versus the New York Red Bulls to move into fourth place (tied with Real Salt Lake) in the Western Conference
GBU Report: Earthquakes vs. Red Bulls
The Good
Midfielder Matias Perez Garcia: Created four chances, had 61 touches in 70 minutes, and had the dime for Fatai’s Alashe’s goal. Wow!
Forward Chris Wondolowski: Zero goals in preseason, five goals in six games in the regular season. He had five shots on the night and created a scoring chance. With forward Quincy Amarikwa opening up space for Wondo, it could be another golden boot campaign.
Midfielder Shea Salinas: Assisted Wondo’s goal, went a full 90, and created three chances.
Midfield Fatai Alashe: Scored his first goal of the season, and helped secure the shut-out.
The Defense: First shutout without center-back Clarence Goodson. Goalkeeper David Bingham had five saves. Despite allowing 12 scoring chances, the defense was able to stifle the Red Bulls attack all night.
The Quakes have yet to be shutout all year and seem to have found scoring chemistry, something they lacked last season. For the record, in 2015, the Quakes averaged 1.2 goals per game. As of the first six games, the Quakes are averaging 1.50 goals/game.
The Bad
Midfielder/Forward Tommy Thompson: May have been playing tired. One shot, just 39 touches. I would be surprised to him start versus Portland on Saturday.
The Quakes allowed the Red Bulls to create 12 scoring chances. That’s a bit much, but might be expected as Head Coach Dom Kinnear shifted the lineup with the additions of Shea Salinas and Matias Perez Garcia to rest up other players ahead of the Portland Timbers FC match.
The Ugly
Nothing ugly about tonight’s performance: sound attack combined with stout defending = solid shut-out. FYI: the scoreline was predicted by Daniel Sperry.
The GBU Report is an analysis of player and team performances after each San Jose Earthquakes match. Look for a GBU Report after each Quakes game.
Main Photo: Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images
