Union draw shorthanded Quakes after late goal against

Share

CHESTER, Pa. -- With the man advantage and one-goal lead, the heavy-legged Union could only watch as Simon Dawkins and the San Jose Earthquakes clawed back for the 1-1 draw on Saturday at Talen Energy Stadium.

“This one’s tough,” said Union defender Richie Marquez. “It feels like a loss. I thought we were pushing for the second goal and for them to tie, it was heartbreaking.”

Pressing the Union defense and keeping them on the ropes in the 83rd minute, the Earthquakes, playing down a man as a result of a 59th minute red card to Anibal Godoy, locked the match at one. Dawkins dodged and dribbled past multiple defensive attempts before firing a low shot past Andre Blake.

“It just fell to me at the edge of the box,” Dawkins said. “I was gonna shoot and then faked to shoot and it just opened up for me. Thankfully it just went in.”

For the Earthquakes, who are without a road win this season, the goal was a perfect conclusion to a match that wasn’t going their way.

“It was something that we definitely needed,” said Earthquakes coach Dom Kinnear. “It was his first goal of the year for us and couldn’t come at a better time.”

For the Union, it was a tough result to absorb.

“We struggled to get the second goal and kill off the game,” said Union manager Jim Curtin. “My guys put in a ton of effort but it’s one of those days where it felt like it was going to take either a big mistake from us or a fluky play to get a goal.”

Aiming and failing for their fourth-consecutive home win, the Union saw their record fall to 4-3-1, which locks them with the Montreal Impact for the temporary Eastern Conference lead. The Earthquakes move to 4-2-3.

“We wanted the three points and we wanted to keep our streak at home with another win,” said Sebastien Le Toux. “Especially with 10 men against us. We might have been a little tired on the goal.”

After controlling play and possession for much of the first half, strong work in the offensive third earned the Union a much-needed corner in the 30th minute. From there, Tranquillo Barnetta’s right-footed setup buzzed into the box before finding the head of hard-charging Chris Pontius.

The quality header found the inside of the right post for the 1-0 Union lead.

“I always try to find a head in the middle but it’s not that easy,” Barnetta said. “I’m happy that Pontius made a great header.”

It was Pontius’ fourth goal of the season — the first time he’s achieved over three goals in a season since 2012, when he registered 12 goals.

The task was expected to get easier for the Union in the 59th minute, when Godoy received his second yellow card of the match and red-card ejection for grabbing Barnetta’s wrist and hauling him down. But despite the advantage, the Union were unable to register a shot on net in the second half.

“We could’ve been more decisive with the final ball for the amount of possession that we were able to have in the second half,” Curtin said. “We were just a little off in front of goal, and that’s something we’ll have to fix.”

Contact Us