SAN JOSE >> A bright spot in a dismal season for the Earthquakes has been the play of Danny Hoesen. The Dutch striker scored twice Wednesday night, but it still wasn’t enough to overcome more defensive breakdowns.
Heading into the 10-day World Cup break, no MLS team has allowed more goals than San Jose’s 31 after a 2-2 tie with the New England Revolution at Avaya Stadium.
“It’s never enough to win when we score two or three goals — that’s ridiculous, to be honest,” midfielder Florian Jungwirth said. “We have very good moments, but we make mistakes which are unbelievable.”
Four days after allowing the winner in the 97th minute in a 4-3 loss to Los Angeles FC, the Earthquakes (2-9-4) managed to break a five-game losing streak in all competitions.
“It’s a very hard time,” Jungwirth said. “Probably the hardest time for every player here. But we have to get out of this situation because it’s our fault that we’re where we are, so it’s on us.”
There was also mounting frustration from the announced crowd of 16,234 at Avaya, a season low. A drop in attendance could be expected at the midweek home game, but the stands appeared to be half empty in the 18,000-seat stadium, and even the San Jose Ultras section wasn’t full. Boos could be heard during the pregame introduction of rookie coach Mikael Stahre.
Stahre shuffled the lineup, giving homegrown midfielder Tommy Thompson his first start and also starting Swiss defender Francis Affolter, who had only played in four games. But the changes didn’t help solidify a backline that conceded what Stahre called “really easy goals” by the Revolution (6-4-6).
In the 31st minute, Uruguayan Diego Fagundez’s free kick from 25 yards beat Andrew Tarbell near post after a foul by Yeferson Quintana. Then in the 44th minute, a throw by goalie Matt Turner led to a quick counterattack and a goal by Ecuadorian Cristian Penilla.
“We can’t concede goals like this,” Stahre said. “It’s absolutely crazy from my perspective.”
The Earthquakes pulled even in the 51st minute when defender Nick Lima hustled to reach a ball in the corner and rifled a cross that was headed in by Hoesen. He also opened the scoring in the 17th minute after Jungwirth created a turnover in midfield. The 27-year-old is tied for fourth in the MLS with nine goals.
• San Jose was playing without two starters who are on the Panamanian World Cup team, defender Harold Cummings and midfielder Anibal Godoy.
