They were out-shot, out-possessed, and even — according to their coach — “out-physical-ed” on the night, but the San Jose Earthquakes emerged from their latest battle with the Vancouver Whitecaps still with a point, which means they’re the best team in Major League Soccer, at least for another couple of days.
The match at PayPal Park was sold out in anticipation of what was hailed in the buildup as a clash between two of the league’s best teams. True on paper. But rather than PSG versus Bayern, the contest resembled more Burnley surviving at home against Man City.
The Quakes had the league’s most potent offense going into the contest, but without Timo Werner and Niko Tsakiris — who are both out for multiple weeks with injury — the team had to take a more defensive approach against Vancouver, which despite missing Thomas Müller, still had most of its best attacking threats.
Bruce Arena inserted longtime full back Paul Marie into the starting lineup as a winger and changed his formation to resemble more of a 4-4-2 in attack and 5-3-2 in defense.
San Jose struck first in the 4th minute via a silky sequence of transition which produced Preston Judd’s eighth goal of the season. The striker is enjoying his best season yet and his growing confidence oozes in his holdup play and willingness to drift wide with the ball at his feet. But after taking the early lead, the hosts spent the majority of the match trying to hold onto that lead for dear life.
Within that effort, there were other moments of brightness which showed that this team’s historic start is no fluke. Goalkeeper Daniel roaring after making a heroic save from the ground in the 56th minute. Ronaldo Viera and Beau LeRoux disrupting everything in the middle of the field. Benji Kikanovic snuffing out attack after attack coming down his flank.
But guts alone aren’t enough to produce consistent glory in this league.
The visitors ended up with nearly 70% of possession and completed almost triple the amount of passes. Jesper Sørensen threw on three attacking substitutions in the second half and the dam finally broke in the 78th minute when Sebastian Berhalter scored a tap-in after the Quakes failed to clear a bouncing ball in the box.
Both teams had chances to win in the final moments, but a share of the points left the standings unchanged: San Jose first, Vancouver second.
Despite his team grinding out another positive result (the Quakes are undefeated since March), Arena was in no celebratory mood. After the match, he chastised the league for its condensed scheduling ahead of the World Cup.
“I think one of the issues in the league is with our economics, which include the salary cap,” Arena said. “We’re not suited to play three games in a week. You see all the teams that are playing mid-week, which is most of them now, they’re having a difficult time.”
“A lot of teams are struggling with fatigue,” he added. “It’s very tough in our league because we can’t rotate a full team like teams in other leagues can.”
Still, the atmosphere inside the 18,000-seat stadium was electric. Every decisive stop or successful escape from pressure brought loud cheers from the crowd.
“It starts with our wingers tracking back,” said Daniel Munie. “When they’re bombing six guys forward at us, you need people to work. And sometimes in this league, you don’t get wingers that play defense.
“Last year, if we have up a goal, you would see heads go down,” Munie added. “You don’t see that this year.” ‘
San Jose has four more games to play in the next two weeks before taking a much-needed pause for the World Cup. At which point, Arena said he expects Tsakiris and Werner to be healthy and for the team to add one or two new signings when the secondary transfer window opens up again in June.
The headliners were missing tonight, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind — not when the team was playing this hard for each other.
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
