San Jose Earthquakes vs. New York City FC | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

San Jose Earthquakes vs. New York City FC
2018 MLS Regular Season – Week 5
Avaya Stadium — San Jose
8:00 pm ET – March 31, 2018
WATCH: ESPN2 in US; TSN2 in Canada

Coming off a Week 4 bye, the San Jose Earthquakes are attempting to do what four others this season have failed to do — defeat NYCFC — and they hope Avaya Stadium can again be the fortress it was a year ago when they lost just twice at home.

One of the top road teams in MLS a year ago, NYCFC are one of four teams in MLS still undefeated and have picked up four points in their last two games without David Villa, with Ismael Tajouri-Shradi scoring three times in those two games.

San Jose Earthquakes

The Earthquakes (1-1-0) spent the bye week hosting an old friend as Landon Donovan and Club Leon came to Avaya Stadium for a friendly. In fact, it was Donovan scoring the lone goal in his return to San Jose Saturday night.

One player who certainly made the break from MLS play count is Vako, who scored in both of Georgia’s wins in international friendlies, including a stunner in a 2-0 victory over Estonia. The midfielder turned after receiving the ball at his feet and ran at the defense, creating separation with a hard cut near the top of the box before scoring with the outside of his right foot from 22 yards out for his ninth goal in 34 appearances.

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: None

Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Andrew Tarbell — Nick Lima, Yeferson Quintana, Harold Cummings, Shea Salinas — Magnus Eriksson, Anibal Godoy, Florian Jungwirth, Vako — Danny Hoesen, Chris Wondolowski

Notes: Vako is one of nine players already this season to have at least four goals and assists (2G-2A). … The Earthquakes have won each of their last three regular season home games, scoring multiple goals in each. The last time San Jose scored multiple goals in four straight regular season home games was August 11– October 21, 2012, a six-game run.

New York City FC

For the first time this season, NYCFC (3-0-1) faced adversity when Diego Fagundez’s 11th-minute goal handed Patrick Vieira’s squad their first deficit of the season. But thanks to a Tajouri-Shradi brace, NYCFC rallied from a pair of deficits to earn a 2-2 draw and remain undefeated on the season. Tajouri-Shradi was named to the MLS Team of the Week presented by Audi for Week 4.

NYCFC earned the draw without four regular starters, including Villa, who missed his second consecutive match with a calf injury. The NYCFC captain, though, trained fully on Tuesday and Vieira said he would travel with the club to San Jose.

“It was a tough game for us,” Vieira said after the New England game. “Today, we showed a lot of character. Sometimes you show a different aspect of the game and today we managed to get back twice from behind. We showed a lot of determination, a lot of character, and this is something positive I picked up from the game.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: None
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Ronald Matarrita (hamstring), M - Alex Ring (knee); QUESTIONABLE: F - David Villa (calf)

Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Sean Johnson — Anton Tinnerholm, Maxime Chanot, Alexander Callens, Ben Sweat — Ebenezer Ofori, Yangel Herrera — Jesus Medina, Maxi Moralez, Rodney Wallace — David Villa

Notes: NYCFC keeper Sean Johnson completed 61 of 83 pass attempts in the club’s 2-2 draw with New England last weekend. Both are the most by any keeper in MLS play since the start of 2010. … NYCFC have lost just one of their last eight league road games (3W-4D), averaging 1.4 goals per game in that time.

All-Time Series

Overall: San Jose Earthquakes 0 wins, 3 goals … New York City FC 2 wins, 5 goals … Ties 1
At San Jose: Earthquakes 0 win, 0 goals … NYCFC 0 wins, 0 goals … Ties 1
Last meeting at San Jose: San Jose Earthquakes 0, New York City FC 0 (August 5, 2016)