An 82nd-minute penalty kick by Andy Rios lifted the San Jose Earthquakes to a 2-1 Cali Clasico win over the LA Galaxy Saturday night at Earthquakes Stadium.
Rios buried his attempt into the corner of the net, just past the outstretched arms of David Bingham, who in the first half denied Chris Wondolowski’s spot kick.
Referee Robert Sibiga pointed to the spot after Galaxy defender Rolf Feltscher mistimed a Cristian Espinoza service into the box, spun and pulled down Nick Lima.
It was the second straight game San Jose rallied for an emotional win because the Galaxy wasted little time to take the lead with Sebastian Lletget scoring his sixth goal of the season just four minutes after the opening kickoff.
The midfielder, who has four of the Galaxy’s last five goals, followed up Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez’s attempt off the post with the rebound on a sequence started with Cristian Pavon’spenetrating run into the box.
The Quakes had a golden chance to equalize 10 minutes later when Wondolowski stepped to the penalty spot after Galaxy defender Nick DePuy was ruled to have handled the ball.
With car horns behind him blaring, Bingham saved the penalty attempt with a lunging effort to his left, a decision upheld following Video Review. Sibiga went to the monitor to check if Bingham drifted off his line on the attempt. But the replay showed his right heel was rooted to the line.
Bingham got the better of Wondo again in the 26th minute, diving again to his left to push aside a downward header.
The Quakes equalizer came late in the first-half courtesy of a left-footed blast by Marcos Lopezinto the side-netting off a setup by Lima before Rios provided the second straight game of late-game winning drama.
Goals
Next Up
- SJ: Wednesday, October 7 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (10:30 pm ET | TSN 1/4/5 in Canada; MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US)
- LA: Tuesday, October 7 vs. Portland Timbers (10:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US; on DAZN in Canada)
