SAN JOSE, Calif. –
You’d be hard-pressed to find two potential AT&T MLS Goal of the Year candidates in one game.
It would be even less likely for both of those goals to come from two players on the same team.
For San Jose, they defeated the odds, capitalizing on a 2-0 victory over Seattle behind magical strikes from midfielders Sanna Nyassi and Matias Perez Garcia.
Nyassi opened the Quakes account in the 28th minute on the right side of the field. After continuing his run to the top of box, the former Sounders player found the ball at his feet with just the goalkeeper to beat.
"It felt great to score against my former club. It was a great build up on the goal," Nyassi said. "We moved the ball out wide and when the defense shifted to the other side, I was open and one-on-one. I was able to put it in the back of the net.
“It was important for us to score the first goal. There was a lot of pressure on us right before that, but we stayed compact defensively. When we scored that goal, it changed everything. We have a lot of respect for Seattle and we matched their intensity today and hit them well on the counter."
Nyassi's across-the-body blast to the far side-netting was Goal of the Year caliber by itself, but it was Perez Garcia's second-half tally that made the league stop and take notice.
“It was a counterattacking goal," Perez Garcia said. "I got the ball and was going to shoot, but I had to move around one defender and that got me into the box with just one man to beat. I knew that they could not foul me since I was in the box. I got the ball onto my good foot and I found the back post.”
With an effortless dance around a swarm of Seattle defenders, Perez Garcia unleashed a quick-triggered curling shot past an outstretched Stefan Frei and into the upper 90 to seal the win for San Jose. The goal that had the Internet buzzing was just the first for the Argentine this season, coming in one of the biggest wins of the 2015 campaign.
“I am happy to get the first one," Perez Garcia said. "I knew that if I stayed relaxed that the goal would come this year. I am glad that I was able to score today in a big win for the team.”
