Fresh off their win against Sporting KC that extended their home win streak to 12 games, the San Jose Earthquakes (9-10-6) embark on a three game road trip that begins at FC Dallas (9-7-9). The Quakes boosted their playoff hopes after their defeat of SKC, jumping within three points of the last playoff spot in the West.
With only 10 games left on the regular season schedule, Saturday evening’s game promises to be hard fought and high quality, as both teams are fighting for a playoff spot. FC Dallas comes back home after taking a 3-1 win on the road against Chivas USA, hoping to carry that momentum into the final push. In their last seven regular season games, FC Dallas has a record of 1-2-4, with their only win coming against one of the worst teams in the league. In contrast, the Quakes are 4-0-3 in their last seven. What started out as a rough season has turned around at the right time for San Jose.
Quakes fans can finally say with confidence that they trust their back line. Consecutive impressive performances of the Goodson-Bernardez duo has now been strengthen by the now-feeling-100% Steven Beitashour. Beitashour served a perfect ball to Chris Wondolowski last game v SKC for the lone goal of the match, his third assist of the season.
San Jose faces a tirade in their upcoming games, and road games have not been their strong suit, as they have lost their last four away from home. This road trip brings them to face FC Dallas, a Champions League match at CD Heredia, then to LA to face the red hot Galaxy before returning home to host the Philadelphia Union and Vancouver Whitecaps.
What to watch for: FC Dallas’ Blas Perez has scored twice in his last three games, but is also one yellow away from accumulation suspension. Quakes’ Rafael Baca and Steven Lenhart also remain one yellow away from suspension. Wondolowski has scored three goals in his last three games, the only goals the Quakes have scored during that span.
(image courtesy of sjearthquakes.com)
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