San Jose wins second straight since five-game losing streak
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Cristian Espinoza had a goal and an assist, Vitor Costa de Brito added two assists and William Yarbrough had five saves to help the San Jose Earthquakes rally from a two-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Rapids 3-2 Saturday night.
San Jose (3-8-1) beat Los Angeles FC 3-1 last time out to snap a five-game winless skid in which the Earthquakes conceded 14 of their MLS-high 28 goals this season.
Costa de Brito, on the left side, played a cross to a charging Espinoza, who slipped behind a defender an rolled a shot inside the back post to give the Earthquakes their first lead of the game at 3-2 in the 66th minute.
Colorado (5-4-3) lost for just its second time in its last seven matches.
Rafael Navarro waited patiently as the play developed and then slipped between a pair of defenders and redirected a corner kick played by Djordje Mihailovic into the net from the top of the 6-yard box to give Colorado a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute
Omir Fernández, a 25-year-old who spent his first five MLS seasons with the New York Red Bulls before signing with the Rapids in December, made it 2-0 when he scored his first goal of the season in the 42nd. Kévin Cabral tapped a one-touch pass to Andreas Maxsø who played another to Fernández, who gathered the ball and then rolled a shot inside the near post.
Amahl Pellegrino fired a one-touch shot from near the penalty spot off a failed clearance that found the back of the net in the 44th minute to cut San Jose’s deficit to 2-1. Then, in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time, Espinoza played a corner kick to Vítor Costa de Brito at the back post for a centering header to Hernán López, whose one-touch shot from the right of the penalty spot made it 2-2.
The Rapids had 61% possession and outshot San Jose 17-13, 7-5 on target.
Colorado’s Zack Steffen stopped one shot.
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