By Felix Peterson (@_felixpetersson ):
The San Jose Earthquakes led once and trailed once, but ultimately it all ended in a 2-2 draw against Houston Dynamo Saturday night at Avaya Stadium.
“This was not the result we wanted,” said head coach Mikael Stahre after the match. “We should have definitely won this match.”
The ‘Quakes (1-2-2) made adjustments from previous games, sending out a 4-3-3 look, rather than their typical 4-4-2. It left captain Chris Wondolowski sitting on the bench, making room for an extra midfielder.
The game started off very sloppy from both teams. Ball possession went back and forth between both sides and there wasn’t many chances created during the first 25 minutes.
After an unsuccessful free kick for San Jose, the ball ended up in front of Magnus Eriksson’s left foot.
The winger made no mistake placing the ball in the left corner of the net, making it 1-0 home team with his second goal of the season.
Avaya was rocking, and the team’s confidence was contagious, but if it wasn’t for Houston’s goalkeeper Chris Seitz, the game could have been out of reach before the half.
In the second 45 minutes, Houston (1-2-2) came out with more energy and started to press higher up the field, an action that paid off instantly.
In the 48th minute, San Jose lost the ball in front of their its own penalty area and the Dynamos easily took advantage, which turned to a goal by Tomas Martinez to make it 1-1.
After the equalizer, Houston took control of the match. In the 63th minute, Mauro Manotas gave his his team the 2-1 lead on a counter attack.
The Earthquakes continued to struggle passing and had a hard time creating opportunities. That was until the 85th minute.
Basically out of nowhere, Jahmir Hyka fired away a shot from 27 yards, which found its way to the back corner of the net thanks to a Dynamo deflection, knotting the game at two.
The tie keeps both the Dynamo and Earthquakes in ninth and 10th place in the Western Conference, respectively.
Next up for San Jose is a trip to Orlando Saturday night.