After conceding two late goals to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the San Jose Earthquakes suffered their third consecutive loss to start the MLS Season.
“We are definitely frustrated,” said Quakes head coach Luchi Gonzalez after the game. “We are in a hole. We’re in a hole, and the way to get out is to dig ourselves out.”
After a rather uneventful first half with only a handful of half chances for both teams, the Quakes shook up their attack bringing in Alfredo Morales to attempt to up the pressure on the Whitecaps.
Amahl Pellegrino had two good chances to score in the 52nd and 53rd minutes but was unable to put the ball in the back of the net.
Vancouver took the lead in the 74th minute when a Whitecaps corner kick was cleared only to the top of the box where Alessandro Schöpf stood waiting to power his shot past Quakes keeper Daniel.
“We have a very good group for me, honestly, coming into this team; very good spirit and very good connections within the group,” said Quakes midfielder Morales after the game. “At the end of the day, that’s not enough. We have to perform on the pitch.”
The game was put out of reach in the 86th minute when Ali Ahmed got past Quakes defender Tommy Thompson, who had just been subbed into the game, and finished his one-on-one with Daniel into the side netting.
Gonzalez remained upbeat despite a run of results the head coach couldn’t have imagined just a few weeks ago.
“The group has the ability to beat anybody home or away, But we’re not getting there. … I have a lot of faith in our talent, as well as our potential talent,” said Gonzalez. One of these goals can change the momentum of winning games and earning points.”
Next up for San Jose is a trip to Sporting Kansas City, where the team hopes to secure its first positive result of 2024.
“There is nothing we can do right now; we lost this game. There is the next game coming up and we have to prepare this week,” said Morales. “We have to work harder every single day in training, and we have to go to Kansas and get those three points. Tonight, we made mistakes, and they punished us. We have to learn from that. We have to move forward. We come back on Monday, and we go all in.”
