Cristian Espinosa scored the lone goal as the San Jose Earthquakes produced a 1-0 victory over the visiting Colorado Rapids on Saturday night.
Espinosa’s first goal of the season gave San Jose (2-1-0, 6 points) its second consecutive victory.
Earthquakes goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski didn’t have to make any saves in his first appearance of the season. The shutout is the 15th of his career.
The Rapids (0-2-1, 1 point) remained scoreless on the season and didn’t place a single shot on net. Colorado’s drought is reminiscent of the 2015 season when the Rapids were blanked in each of their first four games.
William Yarbrough made three saves for Colorado.
Espinosa broke the scoreless tie in the 78th minute when he delivered a right-footed shot that tipped off the left hand of Yarbrough. The ball entered the net just below the crossbar for Espinosa’s 16th career MLS goal.
The Rapids were unable to mount a threat down the stretch even after a red card on San Jose’s Jamiro Monteiro in the third minute of stoppage time gave them a man-advantage.
Two minutes later, play was called to keep Colorado winless. The Rapids have placed just six shots on target over their first three matches.
San Jose outshot Colorado 13-6 and placed four shots on target.
The Rapids played without Diego Rubio (knee) for the third straight game. Rubio scored a career-high 16 goals last season.
San Jose had a major opportunity in the 35th minute when Espinosa unleashed a hard right-footed blast. But Yarbrough was able to get his right hand up to deflect the ball and it caromed off the crossbar.
Four minutes later, the Rapids had a chance, but Darren Yapi’s right-footer rolled wide to the left.
In the 59th minute, Colorado’s Sam Nicholson received a pass and was in good position, but he sent a left-footer wide to the right.
Four minutes later, Espinosa’s left-footed shot was saved by Yarbrough.
–Field Level Media
