Danny Musovski came off the bench and tallied twice and Pedro de la Vega had a goal and an assist as the Seattle Sounders defeated the visiting San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 on Saturday night in a Western Conference matchup.
Goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, starting his third straight match for the injured Stefan Frei (concussion), made five saves for the Sounders (10-6-7, 37 points), who extended their unbeaten streak to five matches (3-0-2) since competing in the Club World Cup.
Preston Judd and Cristian Arango scored for San Jose (7-9-8, 29 points) and goalie Daniel stopped six shots.
De la Vega scored what proved to be the winner in the 69th minute. Cristian Roldan’s pass sent de la Vega alone down the left wing and he pulled up for a 20-yard shot into the far side netting just out of the reach of a diving Daniel.
The Earthquakes opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Jamar Ricketts drove the ball to the end line on the left wing and sent a low cross that Judd redirected into the next from three yards out.
The Sounders wasted little time in getting the equalizer, as Obed Vargas sent the ball to Albert Rusnak on the right wing in the 28th minute. Rusnak’s cross found Musovski about eight yards from the goal and he got his head on the ball over defender Dave Romney and just before Daniel could charge off his line to get to the cross.
Musovski gave the Sounders a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute. Roldan’s long ball from his own half of the field sent de la Vega on a solo run down the left wing. De la Vega drove into the penalty area before sending a cross to Musovski for a header that beat a diving Daniel from the top of the 6-yard box.
The Earthquakes tied it in the 65th minute. Cristian Espinoza’s free kick from about 30 yards out found Judd for a header. Thomas dove to his left to get a hand on the ball, which then ricocheted off the right post and back toward the center of goalmouth, where Arango beat two defenders to the ball to poke it into the net.
Sounders forward Jordan Morris, the franchise’s career scoring leader, had to be substituted off in the 16th minute after suffering a left shoulder injury in a collision with Daniel. Morris and Romney were charging after a long through ball when Daniel came out of the penalty area to clear the ball. Romney turned away and Morris ran into the goalie and pinwheeled into the air, landing on his left arm. Daniel was also attended to after getting hit in the mouth.
–Field Level Media
