It’s a stalemate: Colorado Rapids 1, San Jose Earthquakes 1

The San Jose Earthquakes posted their second road draw on the trot, but their winless run now stretches to nine games, after tying the Colorado Rapids 1-1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday.

This was another credible performance on the road for the Earthquakes, but as they try to find traction in their season and come back, they really need wins at this point and are still lacking the cutting edge to hold onto a lead, a persistent problem this season.

Benji Kikanovic made his first start in MLS in this game for the Earthquakes, with Shea Salinas also in the XI on the night.

San Jose were patient to begin the game, with the ball largely deep in their end to start the game, but the breakthrough came in the 11th minute, with Cade Cowell giving Chofís Lopez a layoff and the Mexican smashing in the goal, with a bit of a fortunate deflection on the way, to give the Earthquakes an early 1-0 lead.

As the first half progressed, Colorado worked and worked to get an equalizer, but San Jose held firm enough, and while the Rapids had a 7-3 edge in total shots through the first 45, the Earthquakes didn’t concede any shots on target and went to halftime leading 1-0.

Chris Wondolowski replaced Kikanovic at halftime, and the Quakes tried to push for an insurance goal, but Colorado tied the game in the 52nd minute through Cole Bassett, who took a switch and buried an angled shot past JT Marcinkowski.

Luciano Abecasis replaced Cristian Espinoza in the 66th minute. A few minutes later, Matias Almeyda’s personal interpreter, Agustin Zalazar, was sent off and had to leave the sideline after he and Almeyda got into a sustained argument with the officials.

Jack Skahan entered the fray in the 75th minute for Chofís, with San Jose getting closer to trying to hold on for a draw in the final minutes of the game. Andy Rios and Siad Haji were the final Quakes’ changes of the night, replacing Oswaldo Alanís and Marcos Lopez.

Grading on a curve, this was a good performance and solid result for the Earthquakes. It’s hard to win on the road, and again Cowell to Chofís was a productive partnership. But if this team wants to be a contender, they need to win at least some of these games, and there’s still work to be done on that front.

San Jose are next scheduled to be in action on Wednesday when they’ll take on Sporting Kansas City in Kansas. Sporting have had the Earthquakes’ number the last couple meetings, but maybe this time will be different? Time will tell.

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