The San Jose Earthquakes have been able to make some noise in the early stages of Leagues Cup 2024 with impressive outing against the LA Galaxy and Chivas de Guadalajara.
Club Nexaca, of Liga MX, came into San Jose after being able to capture their group from the Seattle Sounders after defeating Seattle 3-1 which changed the opponents for both clubs moving into Thursday's slates of games. With the result of their previous game, Seattle ended up hosting LA Galaxy, who they defeated 3-1, and this led to a clash in San Jose between the Quakes and Club Nexaca.
For a game that was just added to the schedule, there was a decent amount of supporters coming in for this game. The Earthquakes are showcasing a prime example of how Leagues Cup can be dire for some clubs as they have posted up one of the worst records in the MLS Regular Season, yet they are playing lights out in the Leagues Cup so far. Interim head coach Ian Russell seems to have been able to unlock a new formula for the Earthquakes players as they have been playing in a quicker tempo and more aggressive style of offensive ball movement, yet still maintaining a defensive hold on the back line. This style of play has been showcased in their last few games, and it was the same case in their matchup against Club Nexaca.
There was mutual excitement on both sides for this matchup is it was later in the night than usual, but it still gave its own unique buzz. The first half came with an explosion of offense from San Jose that you really haven’t seen throughout the entire season so far this year Jackson Yueill was able to get onto the scoreboard fairly early in the match by scoring a goal in the fifth minute from an assist from Cristian Espinoza.
And right after the first goal, San Jose played as they were desperate to score again. And that is exactly what they did shortly after with a lot of offensive pressure. Amahl Pellegrino play pretty well throughout the game as he was seeming to be involved in a lot of the offense of attack, even if it was for a touch or two, and he was directly connected to the shot attempt from Hernán López that was able to add another goal to the scoring sheet. Within the first 20 minutes, the San Jose earthquakes were already leading two to nothing, and even with the lead they continued to attack.
Shortly after the second goal, Rodrigues pushed the ball from the back line up into a attacking position and was able to start a fast break. The ball went from Rodrigues to Pellegrino, who was able to drive the ball towards Jeremy Ebobisse, who curled his shot past the Nexaca goalkeeper Ezequiel Unsain for the third goal. 30 minutes into the game, and the Quakes were already ahead 3-0. This was a piece and spectacle that had the fans in San Jose buzzing, and just continuing to cheer because this offensive presence has been seen all year, but the San Jose Earthquakes look like a completely different team in Leagues Cup 2024.
As San Jose continue to play, they seem unstoppable and mirror minutes after the first Jeremy Ebobisse goal, he was able to extend the Earthquakes lead to 4-0 with a similar setup to the goal right before. Vitor Costa was able to find Hernán López who set up Ebobisse for his chance. By the 40th minute, San Jose was able to firmly establish themselves in this game and hold their destiny in the palm of their hands with a dominant lead. This is when things started to change in the game as Club Nexaca allowed some of their frustrations to be shown on the pitch.
In the 42’ minute mark on a Nexaca corner, San Jose goalkeeper William Yarabrough made the save by jumping and catching the ball in mid air, but when this happened, he was fouled in the upper chest area by Alán Montes and this caused things to get a bit ugly.
As players from both sides came at each other in this scrap things got a little carried away and resulted in two players, one from each side, being showed a straight red. As things started the settle after being broken up, there were arguments being made towards officials which called for VAR to be involved.
From my personal point of view, I was able to see two Nexaca players going at Rodrigues, from San Jose, and one had his hand around his throat. Alán Montes was involved in this, and sparked the entire thing with his actions, and unfortunately had a part to play in the scuffle after. In the end after referee review, Montes had his red card confirmed, but the referee reversed his decision on Rodrigues and gave him a yellow card instead. After this Club Nexaca had their chances, but ultimately went into the half being down 4-0 to San Jose.
As the teams came back onto the field after halftime, Club Nexaca made their adjustments after losing a man on the field due to the red card to Montes. They would take on the Quakes and have a 11 vs. 10 disadvantage for the remainder of the game. San Jose we continue to show some pressure, but you could tell that they were content with where they were with the score. They decided to make a big change in the 64th minute as four starters came off the field. Preston Judd, Alfredo, Morales, Tanner Beason, and Niko Tsakiris all came in as substitutes.
The game continued to have a stalemate pace until a defensive mistake gave a turnover to Paul Marie, who came in as a substitute for Cristian Espinoza in the 82nd minute, a clear opportunity on goal and he was able to chip the ball over the goalkeeper to extend San Jose‘s lead to 5-0. The goal scored in the 88th minute would be the final goal of the night, as San Jose was able to shock the Leagues Cup with their blowout and clean sheet performance, and eliminate Liga MX’s Club Nexaca.
This has been a whole different version of San Jose, they’ve been really able to get things going for them during this tournament play. This will really be the main opportunity for San Jose to be able to be able to win a trophy this season and they look like they are taking every chance to be able to capitalize on it. San Jose advances into the Round of 16 and they take on the familiar foe in LAFC. The two teams take each other on on August 13 at 7:30pm (PST), and you can bet that things will definitely be electric in BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California. For more information about this game and other things happening around the Bay Area. Stay tuned to Rocha Report.
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