San Jose – The expectations in San Jose have shifted, and new head coach Bruce Arena made that clear in his postgame press conference following the Earthquakes’ 1-0 loss to Minnesota United on Saturday night at PayPal Park.
While the defeat was San Jose’s first of the season, Arena emphasized that the team could have delivered a stronger performance.
”We could have been better in creating better chances,” Arena said. “They were a tough team to break down with the numbers they put behind the ball and their backline did a very good job.”
Minnesota netted the lone goal of the night in the 33rd minute when Kelvin Yeboah capitalized on a failed clearance by defender Dave Romney. A long free kick into the Loons’ 18-yard box saw Romney attempt to clear near the end line, but his effort stayed high and failed to go out for a corner kick as intended. The ball was then headed back into the box and found Yeboah, who calmly slotted it home.
”We made a mistake on (their) goal,” explained Arena. ”(We didn’t) clear the ball properly and (didn’t) do a good job stepping to the player who finished.”
Yeboah’s goal marked the first San Jose had conceded in open play this season. The Earthquakes had previously allowed their only goal of the campaign on a penalty kick in last week’s win at Sporting Kansas City.
Despite the loss, the Quakes had several opportunities to score. Josef Martínez saw a close-range shot blocked midway through the first half, while Cristian Espinoza nearly netted an Olimpico directly from a corner kick shortly after.
San Jose continued to generate chances in the second half but ultimately failed to find the back of the net.
“We tried everything to break down the line of five that they put in the back,” Espinoza said. “It’s very difficult to have the opportunities to score when they put the lines too low, and they defended probably most of the game with almost nine players inside the box. We just need to keep working to keep improving because during the season, we’re gonna face that situation again, and we need to be ready.”
”I thought (Minnesota United) defended very well, physically digging their backline,” Arena added. “They dealt with a lot of crosses quite well. Our team played hard and played well in segments of the game, but not well enough to get a goal and walk off the field with a point.”
Espinoza came closest to scoring on the night on a free kick after a foul in the 64th minute just outside of the box, but the ball went just wide of the post.
As soon as I saw the ball going up and over the wall, I was almost expecting that it ended up inside the net,” Espinoza said of the free kick. “I was very close, but unfortunately, it didn’t go down.”
Aside from Yeboah’s first-half goal, San Jose’s backline came up big on several occasions to deny Minnesota additional scoring opportunities. Goalkeeper Daniel made five saves, including a crucial stop at the hour mark, keeping the Earthquakes within striking distance throughout the match.
San Jose’s scoreless night was especially frustrating given their dominance in possession, holding nearly 68% to Minnesota’s 32%. The Quakes also out-crossed the Loons 22-3, completed more passes (598-250), and outshot them 15-10. However, Minnesota had the edge in shots on goal, 6-3.
The loss drops San Jose to 2-1-0 on the season, marking the second time in the last three years they have started with two wins in their first three matches.
The Earthquakes will look to bounce back when they host the Colorado Rapids next Saturday night. The Rapids are coming off a 1-0 victory over Austin FC.
Photo by SJE
