San Jose Earthquakes vs. Atlanta United | 2018 MLS Match Preview

Dylan Butler

San Jose Earthquakes vs. Atlanta United
2018 MLS Regular Season — Week 30
Avaya Stadium — San Jose
Sept. 19 — 11 pm ET
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The Steve Ralston era kicks off for the San Jose Earthquakes host Atlanta United in a worst vs. first midweek clash at Avaya Stadium Wednesday night.

The Quakes made the coaching change Monday morning, with Ralston replacing Mikael Stahre on an interim basis. The move comes on the heels of a 5-1 home loss to Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

This will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams. A Josef Martínez brace powered Atlanta to a 4-2 win over San Jose on July 4, 2017.

San Jose Earthquakes

The worst home loss in four years for San Jose (4-16-8) led to a coaching change with Ralston taking the helm for the final six games of the regular season following Stahre’s departure.

“I would like to thank Mikael and Alex for their hard work and professionalism this season,” Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli said in a statement. “Mikael has qualities, both as a person and a coach, that will be missed by players, staff and the front office alike.

“We felt we needed a change and decided that the six remaining games represent an opportunity for all of us to begin heading in a new direction and to evaluate our options actively with a single goal in mind: to strengthen our first team for the upcoming season and beyond.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Anibal Godoy, M - Luis Felipe
International duty: None
Injury Report: OUT: D - Kevin Partida (right ACL reconstruction surgery and partial meniscectomy)

Projected Starting XI
(4-5-1, right to left)
GK: Andrew Tarbell — Nick Lima, Guram Kashia, Florian Jungwirth, Shea Salinas — Magnus Eriksson, Anibal Godoy, Luis Felipe, Jahmir Hyka, Vako — Chris Wondolowski

Notes: San Jose conceded five goals at home to Sporting Kansas City last weekend, the first time the Quakes had let in five goals in a home league match since August 2014. … San Jose have lost seven of their last 11 league games (2W-2D) and have been outscored 22-13 along that stretch.

Atlanta United

Atlanta (17-5-6) moved back on top of the Supporters’ Shield standings with a 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids Saturday afternoon.

Miguel Almiron bagged a brace inside of the opening 18 minutes and Hector Villalba added a third goal in the 37th minute as the Five Stripes cruised to a fifth win in the last seven games. The match also marked the return from injury of Darlington Nagbe, who earned his first start in three months.

“He played very, very well. He played more than we had planned,” Tata Martino said. “We planned about 60 to 65 minutes for him, but he made it all the way to around the 70th minute. I wanted to wait until the hydration break to make the change, so that I could have longer to talk tactics with Kevin [Kratz] who was about to come on.”

Suspended: None
Suspended after next caution: M - Chris McCann, D - Michael Parkhurst
International duty: None
Injury Report: None

Projected Starting XI
(3-4-1-2, right to left)
GK: Brad Guzan — Jeff Larentowicz, Michael Parkhurst, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez — Julian Gressel, Darlington Nagbe, Eric Remedi, Chris McCann — Miguel Almiron — Hector Villalba, Josef Martinez

Notes: Almirón’s brace against Orlando is his seventh multi-goal game in league play since the start of the 2017 campaign. Martinez (11), Nemanja Nikolic (8), Ignacio Piatti (7) and David Villa (7) are the only other players with more such games in that time. … Atlanta have only lost once in their last nine league games (6W-2D) and have scored in 18 consecutive games, averaging two goals per game along that stretch.