San jose vs Red bulls

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My team vs yours frank.

This should be a well played match here.

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With their first win in three years behind them, the San Jose Earthquakes appear to have the confidence to approach the rest of the season.

The Earthquakes look to build off that victory when they visit the New York Red Bulls on Sunday.



After being held scoreless in its first two games of the season, San Jose (1-2-0) finally got on the board - and the win column - with a 2-0 victory at Colorado on April 19. The victory was the first since 2005 for a franchise that has returned to MLS after a two-year hiatus.

"I knew all along that we would be fine, but it is nice to get that first win so we don't have to think about it," San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. "We can't dwell on this one, though, because we have another tough one on the road we have to be ready for."

Ronnie O'Brien scored the team's first goal, then assisted on Kei Kamara's second-half tally for the Earthquakes, who were outscored 3-0 in their first two matches.

San Jose will play its second consecutive road contest and third this season when it visits New York (1-1-1). Prior to its hiatus from MLS, San Jose was 13-6-5 all-time versus the Red Bulls franchise.

"We're going to go there with the same attitude we had (against Colorado) and hopefully we can get something out of that," Yallop said.

New York, meanwhile, is coming off a 1-1 home draw with New England on April 19. Though the Red Bulls earned a point after losing 2-0 at FC Dallas on April 12, they were not pleased by allowing the Revolution to score while playing a man down in the second half.

"I have to be disappointed, yes, because we let two points go," New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "In general, I have to be optimistic and think that we are improving."



Even more disappointing for the Red Bulls is the expected absence of last season's top goal scorer Juan Pablo Angel.

Angel, who missed the match versus Dallas, left in the second half against New England due to what appeared to be a hamstring injury at the time.

After being checked out, Angel, second in MLS with 19 goals in 2007, was diagnosed with spondylosis, a degenerative inflammatory arthritis in his lower back. The club hopes to have him ready for Thursday's match at FC Toronto.

"We feel pretty strongly that we'll get this under control and we should be able to eliminate the problem for the future," New York trainer Rick Guter told the team's official Web site of Angel, who has one assist in two games.

Jozy Altidore will be on the field for the Red Bulls after scoring his first goal of the year last week.

"The effort was there from all the guys and we'll just try and build from here," said Altidore, who was second to Angel with nine goals in 2007.

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San Jose looks to keep momentum, as Frank Yallop’s side heads across the country to take on New York and attempt to double up on their number of wins. But the Earthquakes will find the going tougher as the Red Bulls have been a better side at home than away. This will be a game that New York head coach Juan Carlos Osorio has circled on his calendar as a three-pointer. His team trails New England by six points, but do have three games in hand. Using this match as one of those, New York should find themselves right back in the middle of a crowded Eastern Conference.

New York gave away two points last week in allowing 10-manned New England to score a tying goal. Osorio has likely been on his team for that all week and they should come out feeling they have something to prove. To do so they will have to break down San Jose’s respectable defense, which has been aided by timely saves from goalkeeper Joe Cannon. They were unable to deny Landon Donovan and David Beckham, but nearly shutout Chicago’s deep offense and kept Colorado off of the scoreboard for the first time all year last week. In facing Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore, though, they have a more difficult task. Altidore showed why he is drawing interest from Europe with a beastly run through the New England defense before unleashing a thunderous shot that left Matt Reis immobile. San Jose centerbacks Nick Garcia, who frequently fouled Rapids forward Omar Cummings to break up attacks last week, and Ryan Cochrane will have to receive help from their midfield to prevent service to Altidore in dangerous areas. Ned Grabavoy was instrumental in disrupting Christian Gomez and will look to do the same against Claudio Reyna this week. Grabavoy also has to find his way forward into the offense, as he did last week with a perfect pass to Kei Kamara for the insurance goal against Colorado.

Ronnie O’Brien. The Irishman dominated the Rapids in the hour he played last weekend. He scored the first goal for the new San Jose team and was credited with an assist on the second, leading to their first points of the young season. O’Brien will have a new target to find in the box as Jean Philippe Peguero was signed and the former Red Bull forward should be available for Dominic Kinnear’s team this weekend. Whether he scores or acts as the playmaker, O’Brien will have to put his mark on the game for San Jose to be successful.

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Game to start soon.

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Kick off

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Kamara fouled hard.

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Player down for red bulls.

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5th minute

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shot from a red bull player over the bar

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San Jose Earthquakes
Starting Lineup

* 1 - Joe Cannon (GK)
* 3 - Nick Garcia
* 4 - James Riley
* 5 - Ryan Cochrane
* 7 - Ronnie O'Brien
* 9 - Gavin Glinton
* 11 - Ned Grabavoy
* 12 - Ramiro Corrales
* 16 - Kei Kamara
* 21 - Jason Hernandez
* 23 - Ivan Guerrero

Substitutes

* 22 - Preston Burpo (GK)
* 2 - Eric Denton
* 6 - Joe Vide
* 10 - Peguero Jean Phillipe
* 15 - Shea Salinas
* 19 - Ryan Johnson
* 20 - John Cunliffe


New York Red Bulls
Starting Lineup

* 18 - Jon Conway (GK)
* 2 - Kevin Goldthwaite
* 6 - Seth Stammler
* 8 - Sinisa Ubiparipovic
* 10 - Claudio Reyna
* 11 - Dave van den Bergh
* 15 - John Wolyniec
* 17 - Jozy Altidore
* 32 - Luke Sassano
* 33 - Chris Leitch
* 60 - Jeff Parke

Substitutes

* 24 - Zach Thornton (GK)
* 3 - Hunter Freeman
* 4 - Carlos Mendes
* 7 - Mike Magee
* 12 - Danleigh Borman
* 23 - Eric Brunner
* 26 - Chris Megaloudis

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Goal kick Joe Cannon

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Red bulls have more possession

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Corner San jose

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hit out for a throw in

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Altidore fouls o'Brien