The San Jose Earthquakes rode two early Danny Hoesen goals and cruised to a convincing 4-1 win over Sporting Kansas City in Week 8 action at Avaya Stadium.
Hoesen opened the scoring both of his goals inside the first 12 minutes of play. On the first, Anibal Godoy sent a long ball from his own half over two defenders that Hoesen brought down with his chest inside the box and shot past onrushing goalkeeper Tim Melia.
Hoesen then did well to beat an offside trap — as confirmed by Video Review — to catch up to a chip from Jackson Yueill over the SKC defense. The Dutchman entered the area from the left, then cut back on a defender to his right and shot past Melia for his brace.
Unfortunately for the visitors, defender Matt Besler went down injured on the play and was forced to leave the match.
Sporting had a chance to cut into the lead not long after, but Krisztian Nemeth sailed his penalty kick attempt over the crossbar.
San Jose essentially put the game away just seconds after the break when Shea Salinas entered the box from the left side and curled in a beautiful ball to the far corner.
Magnus Eriksson added a fourth before Sporting Kansas City's Felipe Guterrez converted a penalty kick to avoid the shutout.
Goals
- 6’ — SJ — Danny Hoesen | WATCH
- 12’ — SJ — Danny Hoesen | WATCH
- 46’ — SJ — Shea Salinas | WATCH
- 61’ — SJ — Magnus Eriksson | WATCH
- 66 — SKC — Felipe Gutierrez (PK) | WATCH
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: After starting the season with four straight losses and leaking goals at a high rate, San Jose has now had three straight solid outings — including two wins by three-goal margins. Sporting Kansas City had come from behind to earn points in three of their last four matches, but the hole tonight was too deep.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Sporting supporters are only left to wonder how differently the match would've played out had it not been for this penalty kick miss by Krisztian Nemeth which could've cut the deficit to a single goal:
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Danny Hoesen set the tone with his two early and quick goals, allowing San Jose to play free in their highest scoring match of the season.
Next Up
- SJ: Wednesday, April 24 at Seattle Sounders (10:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada)
- SKC: Saturday, April 27 vs. New England Revolution (8:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada)
