Match Report pres. by Bob’s Discount Furniture: Wild Cali Clásico ends in 3-3 draw between Galaxy and San Jose

LAGalaxy.com

California Clasicos at Stanford Stadium are typically full of drama, and Saturday's edition was no different, as the San Jose Earthquakes and LA Galaxy played to a 3-3 draw.


The Galaxy started the scoring immediately, as Chris Pontius fought for a ball poorly cleared out of the box, and his flick-on was buried by Zlatan Ibrahimovic before 60 seconds had been played in the game.


But the Earthquakes got a chance about 12 minutes later, as Bradford Jamieson IV conceded a penalty on Magnus Eriksson. Chris Wondolowski's penalty was saved by David Bingham, but the striker followed up and buried the rebound to make it 1-1.


But the Galaxy picked back up from dead ball situations, with Romain Alessandrini scoring an audacious free kick from just outside the side of the 18-yard box and blasting it inside the near post, and then Ibrahimovic hitting a low blast from a free kick to beat Andrew Tarbell five minutes later for his second goal of the match.


Vako then scored to cut San Jose's deficit to one before halftime, and the Quakes drew another penalty, with Wondolowski converting his second chance from the spot on the the first try. Wondolowski nearly won the game in the final minute, but his shot clanged off the post.


Goals


  • 1' – LA – Zlatan Ibrahimovic | WATCH
  • 15' – SJ – Chris Wondolowski | WATCH
  • 20' – LA – Romain Alessandrini | WATCH
  • 25' – LA – Zlatan Ibrahimovic | WATCH
  • 39' – SJ – Vako Qazaishvili | WATCH
  • 69' – SJ – Chris Wondolowski (PK) | WATCH


Three Things 


  • THE BIG PICTURE: Both teams will have mixed feelings about the result, but it was on balance a fair result for the teams. The Quakes could have really used a rousing win here, but will have to be content with the fight shown to get a point. LA will probably be miffed they couldn't complete the season sweep over their rivals.

    • MOMENT OF THE MATCH
    : Wondolowski got heated on his first penalty attempt, yelling at Bingham after scoring on the rebound. Whether it was the heat of the moment or something else is anybody's guess.

  • MAN OF THE MATCH: Ibrahimovic did his part, but Wondolowski, who has been a part of so many memorable Cali Clasicos at Stanford Stadium, gets the nod for his comeback brace to help the Quakes fans walk away feeling good about the big game during a tough season for the Bay Area team.

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