The Earthquakes earned their long-awaited first victory since the World Cup break with a resounding performance in a 3-2 win over San Diego FC on Wednesday night.
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Niko Tsakiris had a goal and two assists by halftime to lead San Jose to a win in front of a disapproving crowd of 18,799 who endured sweltering weather at Snapdragon Stadium.
A chorus of boos rained down in the 35th minute when San Jose forward Ousseni Bouda headed in a goal for what proved to be an insurmountable 3-0 Earthquakes lead – although San Diego made it close at the end.
The Quakes were coming off back-to-back draws, but were able to hold on for its first win since beating Portland on May 23, a stretch that saw the Quakes go 0-5-3.
San Jose moved up to fifth place in the Western Conference (11-8-5; 38 points), while San Diego FC remained in ninth (8-10-6; 30 points).
“Obviously, we’re aware of the standings. I think everybody is right now, but our approach is still the same,” said Tsakiris. “We know what needs to be done. Our goal is to make the playoffs and have a home playoff match. That’s been our goal. But how do we get there? We have to take it day by day, game by game, and make sure we’re all on the same page.”
The Earthquakes opened the match in stunning fashion when Tsakiris outraced the back line in the third minute, took a long ball from Beau Leroux and curled a left-footed shot past SDFC goalkeeper CJ Dos Santos for an early 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, another long ball resulted in Preston Judd getting tackled by Dos Santos in the box. Referee Alexis Da Silva awarded the Quakes a penalty kick, but Dos Santos saved Tsakiris’ attempt.
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However, Tsakiris would show his resiliency in the 12th minute, placing a perfect diagonal ball in the box for a streaking Judd. The forward beat his defender once again and a diving Dos Santos to slot it home for his team-leading and career-high 12th goal of the season, and a 2-0 San Jose lead.
Following Bouda’s career-high sixth goal for San Jose, San Diego managed to cut its deficit to 3-1 in the 42nd minute when Anders Dreyer scored his ninth goal — with assists from Onni Valakari and Elias Achouri.
San Diego’s keeper Dos Santos was tagged with a second yellow card in the 81st minute and San Jose’s Max Floriani was shown a second yellow card in the second minute of stoppage time — leading to red card exits.
Cédric Bakambu scored on a penalty kick for San Diego following Floriani’s foul for his first goal in his first MLS appearance.
San Jose coach Bruce Arena was proud of his squad for enduring its third straight match in extreme heat, going 1-0-2 in the process.
“Our team did very well. It’s an excellent win on the road in difficult conditions,” Arena said. “We’ve played three games in a row in 90-plus-degree temperatures, and we could have won all three.”
Up next
San Jose will host Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Houston sits in second place in the Western Conference (13-7-4).
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