The San Jose Earthquakes stormed past the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night. They opened up the scoring early in the match before finding the back of the net twice more in the second half.
This win could turn San Jose's season back around while Houston desperately need to find any kind of form again.
San Jose starts strong
San Jose got things started early in this match, scoring in the third minute. Simon Dawkins flipped a ball out wide to Chris Wondolowski. The USMNT striker drove a low cross to the near post. There waiting, was Alberto Quintero who rolled one into the bottom right corner. Tyler Deric came off his line to try to apply pressure, but could not do enough as the ball still trickled behind him.
Then, in the 10th minute, the Earthquakes almost found a second goal off of a set piece. Matías Pérez García sent in a high ball towards the big Shaun Francis. Francis managed to get his head on the delivery and missed the top left corner of the goal. Francis collided heads with Kenny Mansally as he made contact with the ball but carried on.
With three minutes remaining until halftime, Ricardo Clark scored an absolute belter. Houston won a free kick on the right side of the pitch and took it short starting with Cristian Maidana. Maidana played a ball into space for Joel Anibaba. Anibaba whipped in a cross that David Bingham punched away. The clearance, though, was poor and it fell straight to Agus. Bingham was quick to react again as he pushed Agus' attempt out of the penalty box. Clark made a run to get onto a loose ball and smashed it into the back of the net.
Earthquakes' early pressure pays off
To start the second half, San Jose came out and put immediate pressure on the Houston back four. Kofi Sarkodie took a touch too many, from a tight angle before shooting. Deric came off his line well to stop Sarkodie's shot at the near post.
A minute later, though, the Dynamo's backline cracked. Anibal Godoy played a couple of quick one-twos with Pérez García and Quintero. Godoy then continued his run into the eighteen-yard box and placed a shot perfectly in behind Deric.
In the 70th minute, the hosts wrapped the match up. Wondolowski was swarmed by three Houston defenders in the middle of the penalty are but managed to maintain possession of the ball. The San Jose striker slid a pass to a wide open Quintero who found the back of the net for the second time tonight.
Houston's night got worse nine minutes later as Deric got his marching orders. A long ball was played over the top of the defense and Dawkins was on his way to chase it down. Deric came off his line in an attempt to clear the danger but missed the ball. Instead of letting Dawkins walk in alone on goal, Deric reached back to try to slow him down, resulting in a red card.
Coming up
Because of the midweek match, both sides have this weekend off. The next match for San Jose will come on the road when they take on their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, May 22nd.