By Josue Lopez
The San Jose Earthquakes defeated LAFC at San Francisco 49ers Levi´s Stadium for a second consecutive season. Neither team came to the Cali battle in their best version. Luchi Gonzalez´ team on the last places of the table and the Black and Gold without any victory out of BMO Stadium.
LAFC had Hugo Lloris in goal; Jesus Murillo and Mazime Chanot on defense; Sergi Palencia and Rayan Hollingshead on the wings; Ilie Sanchez ©, Timothy Tillman and Eduard Atuesta on the midfield; and Cristian Olivera, Matheus Bogusz and Denis Bouanga on the attack.
The Earthquakes had William Yarbrough in goal; Karlo Akapo and Victor Costa on the wings; Rodriges and Bruno Willson as central defenders; Carlos Grueso, Jackson Yueill © and Jack Skahan in the middle; and Amahl Pellerano, Jeremy Ebhibobisse and Cristian Espinoza on the attack.
The first goal came quickly, five minutes after the whistle to be precise. A corner kick ended with a great header by defender Rodrigues. The opponent almost tied the game a minute later due to a defensive mistake by Carlos Gruezo. Matheus Bogusz, playing as a false 9, recuperated the ball, Denis Bouanga tried to place it in the net, but William Yarbrough was at the right place to avoid the goal. The same Grueso had long distance shot, but Hugo Lloris saved the ball. Nothing else happened on the first half.
At the tenth minute of the second half, San Jose scored its second goal with an outstanding transition. On the very left side of their own field, Cristian Espinoza made a long assist. The ball went between LAFC defender Jesus Murillo and Quakes striker Amahl Peregrini. The attacker was faster, took away Hugo Lloris with a dribble and scored the second goal.
Normally, Denis Bouanga appears on the scoring sheet. However, this time was with an own goal after a corner kick by Cristin Espinoza, this at the 65th minute.
Ommar Campos and Kei Kamara entered to the field and were involved in Cristian Olivera´s goal. Both entering players created spaces and, in the veteran´s striker case, assisted the Uruguayan who scored the only goal for LAFC. After that, the Black and Gold tried without any luck. Thus, LAFC lost 3-1 against San Jose.
LAFC returns to BMO Stadium to play against the Vancouver Whitecaps. On Wednesday, the travel to Nevada to play against Las Vegas Lights. San Jose travels to Colorado to have a match against the Rapids. As part of the US Open Cup, the Quakes will host Okland Roots.
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