Recap: Ten-man Sporting falls on the road to San Jose

Sporting Kansas City (0-5-3, 3 pts.) fell to a 3-0 loss against the San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-2, 14 pts.) at PayPal Park on Saturday night. A brace from Jeremy Ebobisse following Cristian Espinoza’s opener was enough for San Jose to top Sporting, who saw defender Robert Castellanos sent off after receiving a first-half red card.

Manager Peter Vermes rolled out an unchanged lineup following last week’s match against the Colorado Rapids and the team started on the front foot, causing multiple turnovers high up the field and seeing a number of shots charged down by the San Jose defense.

Sporting’s bright start lasted nine minutes when San Jose took the lead with their first attack of the match. Jamiro Monteiro freed winger Cade Cowell down the left wing and the young USMNT man cut onto his right foot before whipping in a cross that was converted at the far post by star forward Espinoza.

Trying to find a foothold back in the game, Sporting almost found an equalizer when the high-press once again paid dividends, this time with Graham Zusi dispossessing Monteiro and rifling a half-volley from 25 yards that JT Marcinkowski managed to tip over the bar in the 35^th minute.

Sporting’s night got worse in the 38^th minute when Robert Castellanos was adjudged to have fouled San Jose forward Ebobisse in the penalty area, with referee Tim Ford awarding a penalty and showing the Sporting center back a straight red card for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Ebobisse stepped up and slotted home the penalty kick making the halftime score 2-0 in favor of the ‘Quakes.

The second half began much like the first half ended and San Jose added to their lead as Ebobisse tucked away his second of the game in the 51^st minute to make it 3-0.

Five minutes later, Daniel Salloi appeared to be fouled in the area by Carlos Akapo, but referee Ford deemed no foul on the field and the VAR, Luis Guardia, did not intervene.

In the 61^st minute, Cowell found some space behind the Sporting backline down the left but his low effort was tipped around the post by Tim Melia. Moments later, Johnny Russell cut inside on his left foot and lashed a thunderous effort that was palmed onto the crossbar by Marcinkowski.

Sporting remains on the road next weekend to take on high-flying Eastern Conference side the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Kickoff is set for 6:39 p.m. CT.

2023 MLS Regular Season | Match 8
PayPal Park | San Jose, California
Attendance: 14,212
Weather: 56 degrees and clear

Sporting Kansas City: Tim Melia; Graham Zusi (Cam Duke 70’), Dany Rosero, Robert Castellanos, Robert Voloder; Remi Walter, Erik Thommy, Felipe Hernandez (Willy Agada 46’); Johnny Russell (C) (Marinos Tzionis 70’), Alan Pulido (Andreu Fontas 41’), Daniel Salloi (Khiry Shelton 70’)

Subs Not Used: John Pulskamp, Logan Ndenbe, Chris Rindov, Roger Espinoza

San Jose Earthquakes: JT Marcinkowski; Carlos Akapo, Jonathan Mensah (Tanner Beason 89’), Rodrigues, Paul Marie; Carlos Gruezo (Judson 82’), Jackson Yeuill (C), Jamiro Monteiro (Tommy Thompson 73’); Cristian Espinoza, Jeremy Ebobisse (Ousseni Bouda 89’), Cade Cowell (Benji Kikanovic 82’)

Subs Not Used: Emmanuel Ochoa, Miguel Trauco, Michael Baldisimo, Jack Skahan

Scoring Summary:
SJ – Cristian Espinoza 5 (Cade Cowell 1, Jamiro Monteiro 2) 9’
SJ – Jeremy Ebobisse 3 (Penalty Kick) 40’
SJ – Jeremy Ebobisse 4 (Paul Marie 1, Cade Cowell 2) 51’

Misconduct Summary:
SKC – Erik Thommy (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 31’
SKC – Robert Castellanos (red card; DOGSO) 38’
SJ – Cristian Espinoza (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 60’
SJ – Carlos Gruezo (yellow card; unsporting behavior) 77’

Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referee: Cameron Blanchard
Assistant Referee: Felisha Mariscal
Fourth Official: Victor Rivas
VAR: Luis Guardia
AVAR: Eric Weisbrod