Defender Reid Roberts, in the midst of his first season as a starter for the San Jose Earthquakes, has saved his team on two occasions already.
In May, he made a lung-bursting run in extra time to clear a shot off the line against Toronto FC to preserve a point on the road.
On Saturday, at Levi’s Stadium nonetheless, he won them a point — this time by scoring in the 98th minute with a long-range shot from well outside the box.
“Similar to my save in Toronto, I just had an instinct moment,” Reid said after the 2-2 draw against LAFC. “I wasn’t really thinking at all in the moment. Just kind of did it… It felt unreal. I couldn’t stop jumping up and down.”
Despite playing one man up for the majority of the game, the Quakes trailed behind their Southern California rivals up until Reid’s equalizer. LAFC defender Aaron Long was sent off in the first half, but Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga both flashed their superstar qualities and punished San Jose twice with goals in transition. A third was called off after video review.
“We’re making progress this year,” Head Coach Bruce Arena said. “I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth, but our goal isn’t necessarily to win the MLS Cup [yet] like LAFC… We’re working to get better…and it doesn’t happen overnight.”
There’s no doubt that the Quakes have gotten better in Arena’s second season at the helm. Even if the dreadful World Cup restart — where they lost five of their first six games — dampened the mood around the team this summer, the point against LAFC pushed San Jose’s points total beyond last season’s already, with still eight games to play.
Thanks to the cushion the Quakes built with their blistering 9-1 start, the team is likely to finish in the top six of the Western Conference this year and automatically qualify for a playoff berth. The teams below that level are behind by at least six points.
The California derby match dubbed as “Primetime” on Saturday punctuated a month in which Arena’s team has found some equilibrium after a disastrous run of form from July to August. In that stretch, the Quakes shipped four goals to Orlando; four to Cincinnati; three to St. Louis; and then five to Minnesota. Three of those games happened at home.
Arena in response traded for German international Eduard Löwen last month and shifted his tactics from a back four to a back three to both accommodate the new midfielder and shore up his team’s leaky defense. His team responded with back-to-back road draws in Texas and a convincing 3-2 win, again on the road, against rivals San Diego FC.
The coach dismissed those tweaks with his usual brash tone when asked about it postgame: “I don’t spend a whole lot of time discussing formations,” he said. “There are 11 players on the field… these formations are just a starting point on a piece of paper, and then you have to react during the game.”
Roberts was less coy. “I like having a back three more,” he told me. “We’re much more secure in the back… less open.”
“In the beginning of the season, we had our way with every team pretty much and no one could figure us out,” Roberts said. “Coming back from the break, teams figured out how to expose our weaknesses. So I think with the formation change and having [Löwen] come, it’s been great. We have a lot more numbers in midfield… and switching formation actually helps us when we lose the ball in the middle. There’s so many numbers there that we can win it back and we’re more secure in the back with three center backs and two wingbacks.”
Despite that praise, Arena shifted his tactics again in the second half, removing Daniel Munie (who rolled his ankle) and inserting forwards Timo Werner and Preston Judd back into the fold. Both men missed recent games with injuries, and their return meant playing with one less defender.
It was worth it. In the 69th minute Werner put in a beautiful in-swinging cross to Judd, who headed home his 13th goal of the season.
With their full accompaniment of players on the field on Saturday, the Quakes reverted back to a variation of a narrow 4-3-3 with Löwen anchoring a midfield trio of Niko Tsakiris and Beau LeRoux playing higher up the field.
The Quakes have eight games to get all of their best players fit again and sort out their best lineups. As long as they don’t bottle it down the stretch, they should be in pole position to host their first ever playoff game at PayPal Park.
For now, Arena is savoring the positive moment.
“To see players like Son, Bouanga and Lloris all perform… and have those kinds of players on the field. That was so enjoyable and a great setting,” he said. “Today was a good day for MLS.”
About the Author: Kevin V. Nguyen is a business and sports journalist based in the Bay Area. Follow him on X/Twitter @KevinNguyen_89 or on Bluesky @kevinvnguyen.bsky.social
