The Beautiful Game 2023 Chapter 4: A New Challenger Approaches
I love video games as much as I love soccer, and one of my favorite feelings when playing games such as Super Smash Bros is when a new character is unlocked. When a new challenger approaches, the excitement level spikes up! The method of unlocking new characters in that game is by defeating them, but it’s not easy to defeat an opponent you’ve never faced before. That’s the challenge San Jose Earthquakes had in front of them last Saturday traveling to St. Louis, home of Major League Soccer’s 29th club.
Featured Match: St. Louis City SC 3–0 San Jose Earthquakes
1–0 Gioacchini 34’, 2–0 Klauss 45+3’, 3–0 Ostrak 68’
St. Louis XI: Roman Burki; Jake Nerwinski, Lucas Bartlett, Kyle Hiebert, John Nelson; Rasmus Alm(Tomas Ostrak 57’), Indiana Vassilev(Celio Pompeu 86’), Eduard Lowen, Jared Stroud(Miguel Perez 65’); João Klauss(Samuel Adineran 65’), Nicholas Gioacchini(Aziel Jackson 86’)
San Jose XI: JT Marcinkowski; Carlos Akapo, Jonathan Mensah, Rodrigues(Tanner Beason 58’ injury sub), Miguel Trauco(Paul Marie 46’); Carlos Gruezo(Michael Baldisimo 29’ injury sub), Jackson Yueill, Tommy Thompson(Benji Kikanovic 46’); Cristian Espinoza, Jeremy Ebobisse, Cade Cowell(Ousseni Bouda 83’)
Yellow Cards: Rodrigues 14’, Trauco 40’, Kikanovic 46’, Cowell 64’, Baldisimo 66’, Lowen 90+4’
St. Louis City FC stunned the entire league by winning their first three games as an expansion club, and they made history by being the only one to win their first four by taking down the San Jose Earthquakes 3–0. While the Earthquakes had a decent start to their season with 2 wins and 1 loss, few fans expected this to be a third win in a row. The city of St. Louis has a long history and connection to soccer, and their fans were loud throughout the night spurring their team on.
Klauss’s goal in the dying embers of the first half made their victory feel inevitable, but the San Jose Earthquakes would not go down without a fight. We rarely get to see Cade Cowell and Benji Kikanovic play together as usually one subs in to replace the other. Their combination play, while sometimes out of sync, also led to some great opportunities. Unfortunately Cade Cowell couldn’t connect to a golden opportunity with an open net, and Benji Kikanovic hit one well over the bar. Then came the 3rd St. Louis goal and that was that. Well, not exactly.
As if a 3–0 loss isn’t already a tough pill to swallow, both Carlos Gruezo and Rodrigues got hurt. The midfield was without Jamiro Monteiro due to the red card he received against Colorado Rapids in the previous game, and now with Monteiro set to return, San Jose will be missing even more players. The fear going into the next game at home hosting Toronto FC is that the squad as currently constructed is still vulnerable despite the new additions to the club. Ultimately it’s a reality of any sport that you can’t just rely on your starters to succeed, and hopefully they can overcome this disappointing result to grow into this challenge.
Recapping Key Matches From Last Week
Tuesday, March 14th
Champions League Round of 16 2nd Legs 1 pm
Porto 0–0 Inter (Inter leads 1–0)
Manchester City 7–0 RB Leipzig (Tied 1–1)
Wednesday, March 15th
Champions League Round of 16 2nd Legs 1 pm
Napoli 3–0 Eintracht Frankfurt (Napoli leads 2–0)
Real Madrid 1–0 Liverpool (Real Madrid leads 5–2)
Quarter Final Draw
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Manchester City vs Bayern Munich
AC Milan vs Napoli
Benfica vs Inter Milan
More thoughts related to the Champions League will come later this week in my Elimination Analysis article.
Thursday, March 16th
Europa/Conference League Round of 16 2nd Legs
10:45 am Europa League: Real Betis 0–1 Manchester United (Manchester United leads 4–1)
1 pm Europa League: Arsenal 1–1 (3–5 pens) Sporting CP (tied 2–2)
Manchester United and Arsenal were both expected to contend for the Europa League trophy, but only one English club will carry on. Marcus Rashford’s goal was the only one on the night in Seville and that essentially snuffed out any comeback from Real Betis. Arsenal were stunned by an incredible goal and then couldn’t get it done in penalties, meaning Sporting Club de Portugal continue on and Arsenal now only have the Premier League title to track down in the coming months.
Europa League Quarter Final Draw
Juventus vs Sporting CP
Manchester United vs Sevilla
Feyenoord vs Roma
Bayer Leverkusen vs Union SG
Conference League Quarter Final Draw
Lech Poznań vs Fiorentina
Gent vs West Ham United
Anderlecht vs AZ Alkmaar
Basel vs Nice
Final 24 Clubs in European Competition by Country
6 Italy (Inter, Milan, Napoli; Juventus, Roma; Fiorentina)
4 England (Chelsea, Manchester City; Manchester United; West Ham)
3 Belgium (Union SG; Anderlecht, Gent)
2 Germany (Bayern; Leverkusen)
2 Netherlands (Feyenoord; AZ)
2 Portugal (Benfica; Sporting)
2 Spain (Real Madrid; Sevilla)
1 France (Nice)
1 Poland (Lech Poznań)
1 Switzerland (Basel)
Friday, March 17th
12:30 pm Bundesliga: Borussia Monchengladbach 2–2 Werder Bremen
Monchengladbach and Bremen were even at 30 points going into this, and they remain locked on the same points haul after a thrilling draw.
Saturday, March 18th
Premier League
Southampton 3–3 Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea 2–2 Everton
Chelsea’s biggest weakness this season has been goalscoring, but they got goals from João Felix and Kai Havertz today. Everton managed to hang in there and an unlikely hero emerged: Ellis Simms equalized at the end of the 90. Similarly unsurprising given how their season has gone, Tottenham couldn’t seal the deal allowing Southampton to pick up a crucial point for their
La Liga
Atlético Madrid 3–0 Valencia
In the first half of the season, Atlético Madrid finished bottom of their Champions League group and many speculated Diego Simeone would leave the club at the end of the campaign. But now, there’s renewed optimism that a strong end of the season could mean a new dawn next go around. Valencia remain in danger of relegation, which is something unfathomable for one of the biggest clubs in Spain.
Liga MX Super Clasico
Chivas 2–4 America
The scoreline is deceptively close, but America were up 4–0 and by the time Chivas started scoring goals, it was realistically out of hand. Chivas confirmed suspicions from Liga MX followers all Clausura long that they’re a good team, but not a great team. America are in great form and their status as a contender for another championship is solidified.
Sunday, March 19th
PL
Arsenal 4–1 Crystal Palace
FA Cup
Manchester United 3–1 Fulham
La Liga El Clásico
Barcelona 2–1 Real Madrid
USL Championship
Rio Grande Valley FC 1–1 Oakland Roots
Sundays have been jam packed with great games that I didn’t even initially list the Rome derby and derby D’Italia, but credit to Lazio and Juventus getting the victory over Roma and Inter respectively. Arsenal responded well to their Europa League loss and Oakland Roots got their first point of the season. I can’t wait to watch their home opener this Saturday!
Similarly to the Chivas America game, the scoreline is deceptive for Manchester United Fulham but in a different way. This may look like a routine win for the Red Devils, but Fulham led 1–0 before they imploded. Willian was sent off and conceded a penalty for a hand ball that denied a goalscoring opportunity. Then Aleksandar Mitrovic and Marco Silva got ejected for their reactions to that situation. Manchester United salvaged a game that was going away from them, but it wasn’t a convincing performance when it was 11 vs 11.
Manchester United were drawn Brighton in the FA Cup semifinal, and the other half of the draw see Manchester City face Sheffield United.
Last and certainly not least, Barcelona all but confirmed their La Liga title with a 2–1 win over Real Madrid. Real Madrid had a chance to go 2–1 up when Dani Carvajal set up Marco Asensio, but it was ruled out for offside. It’s been an interesting season for the two rivals, with Barcelona looking pitiful in Europe but dominant domestically. Real Madrid have been well off the mark in the league but are a force to be reckoned with one again in the Champions League.
What I’m Watching This Week
Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22
UEFA Women’s Champions League Quarterfinals (DAZN YouTube)
3/21 10:45 am Bayern Munich vs Arsenal
3/21 1 pm Roma vs Barcelona
3/22 10:45 am Lyon vs Chelsea
3/22 1 pm PSG vs Wolfsburg
US Open Cup First Round Begins Too!
Thursday, March 23
2024 Euro Qualifiers
12:45 pm FS1 Italy vs England
Friday, March 24
2 pm CONCACAF Nations League TNT/Peacock Grenada vs USA
5 pm USL Championship ESPN+ Rio Grande Valley vs Monterey Bay
Saturday, March 25
7 pm USL Championship ESPN+ Oakland Roots vs Memphis 901 (Home Opener)
Also keeping tabs on
7:30 pm MLS Apple TV+ San Jose Earthquakes vs Toronto FC
Sunday, March 26
6 pm NWSL Angel City FC vs NJ/NY Gotham FC
Monday, March 27
11:45 am Euro Qualifiers FS1 Ireland vs France
1 pm CONCACAF Nations League Universo USA vs El Salvador
Goal of the Week
Pedro Goncalves from the halfway line. Just watch it, although it’s very likely you have already. https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGolazo/status/1636479460391424001?s=20
Honorable Mention: Cristiano Ronaldo with a 39 year free kick for Al-Nassr.
https://twitter.com/totalcristiano/status/1637169460405579777
What did you think of the games I featured in this article?
What games are you watching this upcoming week?
How is your club facing and overcoming adversity this season?
Let me know below or on Twitter @IvanOrnelas2. If you are a San Jose Earthquakes fan, consider following @TectonicTakes as well! Until next week, keep on watching and living the Beautiful Game!
