Josef Martinez had a goal and an assist as the San Jose Earthquakes defeated Sporting Kansas City 2-1 in SKC’s home opener Saturday night. Sporting played with a man advantage for more than 40 minutes, including stoppage time, but couldn’t figure out how to penetrate the San Jose defense for the match-tying goal.
San Jose (2-0-0, 6 points) was outshot 15-7, including 6-0 in the second half but didn’t allow a single shot on goal after intermission.
Sporting (0-2-0, 0 points) picked up a break in the 52nd minute when Hernan Lopez was given his second yellow card of the night, resulting in his exit from the match. Sporting manager Peter Vermes then substituted for all three of his players who were on yellows in the 56th minute, allowing SKC to be aggressive the rest of the match.
The teams combined for 16 first-half shots, including eight shots on goal. Referee Sergii Boiko called 16 fouls and handed out four yellow cards.
It didn’t take long for San Jose to break down the Sporting defense and capitalize for a 1-0 lead. Cristian Arango left-footed a shot from the center of the box past a sprawling John Pulskamp in the third minute of action. The goal was assisted by Martinez.
The Earthquakes extended the lead to 2-0 in the 19th minute. Coming off a corner, Martinez collected a loose ball in front of the net and nubbed it past Pulskamp.
Sporting pulled one back in the 27th minute when Dejan Joveljic drilled a penalty kick past San Jose keeper Daniel De Sousa Brito into the lower-right corner of the San Jose net. The PK was awarded after Ian Harkes was called for a hand ball in the box.
Tim Leipold nearly leveled the match with a rocket in the 31st minute, but De Sousa Brito deflected it above the crossbar. Pulskamp then deflected a scissor kick by Martinez that would have put San Jose up 3-1 in the 33rd minute. And Leipold’s attempt in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time hit the crossbar.
–Field Level Media
