COLUMBUS, Ohio - The San Jose Earthquakes gave up a goal midway through the first half and a late penalty kick to fall 2-0 to Columbus Crew SC on Saturday night at MAPFRE Stadium. The Quakes remain tied on points for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
David Bingham kept the Quakes in the game in the 18th minute with a spectacular diving save against his former teammate, Adam Jahn. Jahn received a pass on the left side of the box and curled a shot to the opposite post, but Bingham dove and knocked the ball away to keep the game scoreless.
The Quakes had their best chance of the first half six minutes later through a combination of Chris Wondolowski and Henok Goitom. Wondolowski got free at the back post and headed a cross down to Goitom in front of goal, but the Swedish striker's shot went over the bar.
Crew SC got on the board first through Ethan Finley. Justin Meram got down the right wing and hit a low cross that found Finley at the back post and he tapped it into the empty net for a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute.
Bingham went down with a back injury in the late stages of the first half and was replaced by rookie Andrew Tarbell. Just minutes into his MLS debut, Tarbell pulled out a great stop to keep San Jose's deficit at one goal. Jahn got on the end of a cross and headed down to the corner, but Tarbell just got a hand on the shot and pushed it past the post.
Moments later, Goitom nearly got onto a cross to equalize. Alberto Quintero made some space for himself on the left wing and cut back to serve a ball to the near post. Goitom made the run, but the cross skipped just out of his reach and into the hands of Crew SC goalkeeper Steve Clark.
Simon Dawkins created a chance for himself with some extra effort midway through the second half. After a turnover by the Quakes, Dawkins stripped Harrison Afful and got free at the top of the box. He hit a low shot to far post, but Clark got down to smother the chance.
Crew SC sealed the match from the penalty spot in the 84th minute through Meram. Meram was taken down in the box to earn the penalty kick and then converted to the lower right corner for a 2-0 advantage.
The Quakes take on C.F. Pachuca from Liga MX at Avaya Stadium on Saturday, September 3. All Earthquakes season ticket holders should use their Bonus Game B tickets. Single game tickets can be purchased by clicking here and special-rate group tickets can be purchased by calling the Earthquakes Front Office at 408-556-7700. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT.
Notes:
San Jose is now 7-8-11 on the season and 1-6-6 on the road.
San Jose now has a 14-19-7 all-time record against Columbus, including a 3-13-3 record as the visiting team.
Rookie Andrew Tarbell made his MLS debut at MAPFRE Stadium, entering as a substitute for David Bingham in the 45th minute.
Henok Goitom earned his first MLS start against Crew SC after making his debut with the Earthquakes on Friday, Aug. 19 against the Houston Dynamo at Avaya Stadium.
Shaun Francis made his 50th start with the Quakes.
Andres Imperiale earned his first start since the Quakes 1-0 victory against Sporting Kansas City on April 24.
MLS Regular Season
Columbus Crew SC 2 - San Jose Earthquakes 0
Aug. 27, 2016 - MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, OH
Attendance: 20,031
Scoring Summary: CLB - Ethan Finley (Justin Meram, Nicolai Naess) 32; CLB - Justin Meram (penalty) 84.
Misconduct Summary: SJ - Darwin Ceren (caution) 65.
COLUMBUS CREW SC: Steve Clark, Harrison Afful, Michael Parkhurst, Nicolai Naess, Corey Ashe (Hector Jimenez 73), Will Trapp (Dilly Duka 13, Cedrick Mabwati 79), Mohammed Saeid, Ethan Finley, Tony Tchani, Justin Meram, Adam Jahn.
SHOTS: 14, SHOTS ON GOAL: 4; SAVES: 2; FOULS: 8; CORNER KICKS: 9; OFFSIDES: 2.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES: David Bingham (Andrew Tarbell 45), Cordell Cato, Victor Bernardez (Marvell Wynne 58), Andres Imperiale (Shea Salinas 76), Shaun Francis, Alberto Quintero, Fatai Alashe, Darwin Ceren, Simon Dawkins, Chris Wondolowski, Henok Goitom.
SHOTS: 7; SHOTS ON GOAL: 2; SAVES: 2; FOULS: 8; CORNER KICKS: 2; OFFSIDES: 2.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the result:
"I am disappointed, but it was a fair result. We just didn't play well tonight and then to have to make two subs at goalkeeper and a center defender didn't make it easier for us. It was a tough night for us."
On playoff race:
"We need points on the road and at home. We have eight games left and we have to move on from tonight and focus on these games. Tomorrow, Portland and Seattle play and we will see what that result is and then get ready for the next one."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI
On match:
"We are very frustrated right now. That has been the theme of these last three games. We definitely weren't good enough across the board. These are tough times right now, but we need to regroup and get back on the right track. We are still in the playoff race."
On injuries and travel:
"It is always hard to have three games in a week with cross country travel, but every team has to deal with that. It was also tough to use two defensive subs in the first 60 minutes of the game due to injury. But you have to adapt when stuff like that happens and we didn't adjust tonight. We need to be better."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES GOALKEEPER ANDREW TARBELL
On making his debut:
"You never want to see a teammate go down with an injury so that is hard to deal with. When you are on the bench though, you have to be ready for anything so I just tried to remain calm and remind myself that it is another soccer game. It felt good to be out there. Having to make a save right away got me the game also, so that was good for me. You want to get involved right away."
On second half:
"I think we possessed the ball better in the second half and tried to push forward a bit more. We put some more pressure on them and got into their half more. The guys worked hard in front of me, but we just couldn't break through."
