After a four-goal eruption that got their offense back on track, the San Jose Earthquakes at least will be close to home when they play host to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday in another edition of the California Clasico.
The team’s first game in the Bay Area in a month will take place at Stanford Stadium as the teams renew their rivalry with 40,000 tickets already sold for the match.
The Earthquakes (7-7-5, 26 points) enter after a 4-2 road victory over FC Dallas on Wednesday. Cristian Arango, Josef Martinez and Beau Leroux gave San Jose second-half goals to overcome a 1-0 deficit. Mark-Anthony Kaye scored in second-half stoppage time.
With seven wins this season, the Earthquakes passed their total of six from last season when they finished in last place in the Western Conference. They enter Saturday’s game in fifth place.
“We just moved on,” San Jose captain Cristian Espinosa said, when asked to compare last season with this one. “In the beginning of the season, we knew the club was making a huge effort to bring good players to the team, and the guys are responding in the field. I’m really happy for the team because this year is going well, and now we need to keep going in the same way.”
The Galaxy (1-13-5, 8 points) continued their dreadful season with a 2-0 road loss to the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday. They failed to score a goal for the eighth time in MLS play.
“We’ll put in one behind us, get back, and get going on the weekend,” Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney said. “They understand what it’s like to play San Jose and it’s a Clasico. Just played them not too long ago, we have a pretty good sense of what they’re going to look like and how the game will try to be played.”
Before Wednesday, Los Angeles’ most recent game without a goal was in a 1-0 home loss to San Jose on May 28. Ousseni Bouda scored the lone goal of the game.
Christian Ramirez leads the Galaxy with four goals but has not scored in the past nine matches — while coming off the bench in each of the past five contests.
Los Angeles continues to play without star midfielder Riqui Puig, who came away with a knee injury in last season’s playoffs.
Saturday’s game is the 104th edition of the California Clasico rivalry with Los Angeles holding a 50-34-19 advantage.
–Field Level Media
