San Jose Earthquakes squeeze out a well-earned 1-1 tie against Minnesota on Tuesday night.

Following their 0-0 draw against Vancouver, the Quakes came out on Tuesday night looking to get back to winning ways against a Minnesota side that had won just one out of their last five games.

Quakes came out in a 4-5-1 with Yuelli pushed up higher on the pitch to give them more creativity in the midfield. They came out with relatively the same lineup that faced Vancouver on Saturday with the exception of Eric Remedi coming on for Chofis.

The home team knew it needed to make up for their lack of intensity on Saturday and came out looking for an early goal to set the tempo. In the 12th minute, they got exactly that. Espinoza received the ball perfectly on the switch and knew exactly what he needed to do. Beat his man down the line and got a dangerous cross in. The cross was so juicy that even Minnesota’s Bakaye Dibassy couldn’t resist the urge to score. Dibassy’s poorly cleared interception found its way into the back of the net giving the Quakes the early lead they were looking for.

What proceeded after was a rollercoaster of emotions. Less than 10 minutes later, defender Nathan Cardoso would get sent off after video review confirmed the worst. The defender’s leg came off the ground and went studs up into a tackle leaving the referee no decision but to give him the straight red.

No less than 2 minutes later, Minnesota took advantage of the swing of momentum and Will Trapp buried his shot past the outstretched arms of Marcinkowski to tie the match 1-1. Just like that, the Quakes were down a man and had seen their lead slip away.

The silence that rang inside PayPal Park said it all. Minnesota had quickly gained control of this game and if the Quakes didn’t make any adjustments, it could get ugly. Marcinkowski quickly gathered the team and reminded them to keep their head and play their game. Minnesota would go on to dominate the rest of the half but the Quakes’ much improved defense kept them at bay as both teams went into halftime tied at 1-1.

Matias Almeyda must have woken up on Tuesday feeling dangerous because he sent out a team lined up in a 4-3-2 to start the half. A backline that saw Judson slide over to right back with Remedi drop as a center back. The midfield was, in my eyes, the riskiest move. Quakes played with 3 in the midfield but with Luciano Abecasis and Paul Marie as wingers and Yueill as the lone midfielder. This would obviously give the Quakes the width that they love to look for but it was also a shaky move considering they had lost the midfield in the first half.

The second half introduction of Cade Cowell alongside Ebobisse gave the Quakes even more speed with Cowell’s runs behind the lines causing headaches to the Minnesota backline.

The Quakes looked much more threatening in the second half and created most of their dangerous chances late in the game. Yet, like most Quakes games this season, they lacked that final pass and wasted multiple glorious chances.

A potential penalty on Cowell was not even reviewed by the referee despite the instant replay clearly showing that the youngster was tripped as he was preparing to shoot. Look, I’m not one to blame the game on a referee but… the man was awful. Missed calls left and right, didn’t even bother to look at the potential penalty and of course, the red card (which was clearly a red card but don’t tell the Quakes fans that were booing him all day).

In the end, a tie was a fair result for a San Jose team that would lead the league if the games were 10 minutes longer. Playing a man down is never easy and despite the turbulent 10 minute span in the first half, the Quakes were able to hold their own defensively and were a video review away from possibly winning the game.

The Quakes sit in 9th place and one point behind Portland for the final playoff spot. Minnesota remains in a playoff spot but plays Kansas City and Seattle in their upcoming games.

Martin Pantoja

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