Quakes Draw with Chicago 2-2

Photo by Joe Nuxoll of www.centerlinesoccer.com

For the second time in 5 days the Quakes and Chicago ended 90 minutes tied at 2-2, and Chicago came from behind to tie the game. We all know that the first tie was a USOC qualifier which the Quakes lost on penalties, but Saturday’s MLS game provided the Quakes with a point on the road. The Quakes scored both their goals with headers, the first from Ramiro Corrales and the second from Chris Wondolowski. Each goal was assisted by Anthony Ampaipitakwong.

Good News!
The guy (or gal) who so nicely uploaded the MLS recap videos to YouTube is back! So I’ve got more of those great videos from previous posts. There’s no guarantee how long these videos will be up before the account is suspended again, so until then, ENJOY!

Ramiro Corrales’ Goal
The Quakes’ first goal came once again after halftime. Joey Gjertsen was subbed off at the half and Ampai was put on in the right hand side of midfield. Gjertsen may have picked up a slight injury in the first half or training during the week because he was a little ineffective in the first half. Ampai once proved that he brings some attacking flair on the right hand side, which has been lacking all season. Convey and Corrales bring the attacks down the left, Dawkins and Ring attack down the middle, but the right has been void of dangerous attacks. The Quakes managed to get a corner kick in the 49th minute and with Convey playing left back Saturday, Amapi took the corner. He connected with Corrales who put the ball past Sean Johnson for his first goal of the season and Ampai’s first assist.

Dominic Oduro’s Goal
The Fire managed to answer within 6 minutes with a crazy goal. In the first 10 minutes of the match, one of the Fire players managed to snap off a shot on goal that hit the left post, ricocheted off the right post, and trickled out of the penalty box. Something similar happened for Oduro. Nazarit took a shot just under the 18 yard box and Beitashour managed to get a foot on the ball. It wasn’t enough though as the ball hit the upper right post, then bounced on the goal line, hit the left post, and Oduro was right there to tap it in. It was a crazy goal that a player can’t really anticipate, but it was disappointing to see Oduro muscle his way through Opara to get near the open net while Nazarit was taking the shot.

Chris Wondolowski’s Goal
Wondo’s 6th goal of the season came off a nice back heel pass from Corrales. Ramiro took the ball in the middle of the field and ran at the right side of the 18 yard box. He drew two defenders to him and flicked the ball backwards to an open Ampai who put the ball in the air towards Wondo, who needed very little help to guide the ball past Johnson into the bottom right corner of the net. This goal makes 3 headed goals for Wondo as well as 3 goals with his left foot. He is also tied in second place for the Golden Boot with Thierry Henry and Charlie Davies, two giant names in the sport. Donovan currently leads the Golden Boot race with 8 goals. Unfortunately the Quakes will be missing Wondo while he is playing with the national team, but hopefully he can go on a tear like he did last year.

Cory Gibbs’ Goal
Chicago’s second goal came within 5 minutes of San Jose’s previous goal. For some reason Lenhart was marking Gibbs within the 18 yard box instead of one of the central defenders. Gibbs was able to squirm by Lenhart and scored a nice goal with his head. While it might be sacrilege to describe it like that, the goal was very, very nice. He managed to put the ball within a space that couldn’t be more than 1 foot wide, between Busch and the left post.

Match Highlights

Upcoming
The next match for the Quakes is this Saturday at Buck Shaw against the Houston Dynamo. In other news, Dawkins was back on the training field today and is listed as Questionable for Saturday’s game. With Wondo out for the next 3 weeks minimum, the Quakes will need some of the other strikers to step up and pick up some goals. But with Dawkins close to coming back to the field, he can hopefully bring in some more of the attacking presence in the middle which will lead to some goals for different players.

GO QUAKES!

Category: Armchair Coach, Chicago Fire, Photos, Player News, Post-Game, San Jose Earthquakes, YouTube