Man, what a wild one out in San Jose Wednesday night. The Earthquakes pulled a 2-2 tie with the Colorado Rapids, but after blowing a lead and stretching their winless streak to five straight games, it had to feel more like a gut punch than a hard-fought point.
A Rollercoaster of Goals and Cards
This match had everything, starting with Reid Roberts putting the Quakes on the board early. He went up high for a header off a Timo Werner corner kick in the 15th minute, and that baby deflected right off the crossbar and into the net. What a start! But Colorado’s Morgan Whittaker answered back in the 26th minute, rolling a low shot from the center of the area past Angus Gunn and inside the right post. That’s two straight games with a goal for Whittaker, by the way.
The back and forth didn’t stop there. Things got super heated in the second half when Werner was slapped with a straight red card in the 71st minute, leaving the Earthquakes playing a man down. Talk about adding drama!
Chaos on the Field, Points Slipping Away
Colorado capitalized almost immediately. Darren Yapi, who had just subbed on for Whittaker in the 63rd minute, got a pass from Georgi Minoungou, made a sweet cut to evade a defender, and then fired a shot from the left side of the area that slipped inside the near post in the 73rd. Just like that, it was 2-1 Rapids!
Just when you thought it couldn’t get crazier, Colorado’s Kosi Thompson got his own straight red card in the 75th minute, evening up the playing field for the final stretch. Even with the man advantage for a bit, San Jose couldn’t hold on. The Quakes definitely pushed the pace, outshooting the Rapids 16-8 overall and 8-2 on target, even though Colorado held 54% possession. Unfortunately for the Quakes, those 49 points put them at fifth in the Western Conference standings, sitting behind Houston and St. Louis, who are tied for third with 51 points each. The Rapids, now unbeaten in five straight thanks to six saves from Hansen, are seventh with 43 points.
The Earthquakes really need to regroup after this one. They are hosting Salt Lake on Halloween, and they absolutely have to find a way to snap this winless streak. Meanwhile, the Rapids are riding high and hosting Chicago on Saturday. This one stings for San Jose, no doubt about it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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