{"id":466847,"date":"2026-09-17T14:42:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466847\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:42:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:42:49","slug":"earthquakes-can-solidify-spot-in-mls-standings-vs-lafc-at-levis-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466847\/","title":{"rendered":"Earthquakes can solidify spot in MLS standings vs LAFC at Levi’s Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

The San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> have a massive opportunity for gains on several fronts in their match Saturday against Los Angeles FC.<\/p>\n

First, they can sweep their California rivals in the season series for the first time since 2021. A win would also be their third straight, potentially signifying renewed stability after a significant midseason wobble. And finally, it\u2019d be a big win in the MLS standings<\/a>: With a victory and some help, they could climb back to second place in the West, as well as creating distance from LAFC, which is a single point behind the Quakes in the crowded middle of the conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe closer that we get to playoffs, we know how important each game becomes, and how tight the standings are in the West,\u201d midfielder Niko Tsakiris told reporters Tuesday. \u201cSo we know that we have to make the most of each opportunity that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to secure this key win, they\u2019ll want to get off to a better start than they did last year in this matchup at Levi\u2019s Stadium.<\/p>\n

Son Heung-Min, LAFC\u2019s star midseason addition from England\u2019s Tottenham Hotspur, scored in the first minute on a quick-build tap-in past Quakes keeper Daniel, igniting a plurality of the 50,000-plus attendees that was there to see the Korean star play in NorCal for the first time.<\/p>\n

Eleven minutes later, it was 3-0 for the visitors as Denis Bouanga scored twice. He later added another in the 87th minute as LAFC won 4-2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earthquakes coach Bruce Arena expects to see a similarly threatening attack from LAFC this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have some very talented players,\u201d Arena told reporters Tuesday. \u201cThey\u2019re dangerous. They\u2019ll attack with pace and obviously try to get behind our back line.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Jose appears to have regained its form over the last week after going more than three months without a win \u2013 albeit with the World Cup break contained in that period. The Quakes were 0-5-3 from the end of May through their first game of September until they beat San Diego on the road<\/a> Sept. 9. Three days later, they got another win over Houston<\/a> at home.<\/p>\n

The slide saw the Earthquakes go from tied atop the West to sixth, and within range of falling into a wild-card spot or out of the playoffs altogether. Now they\u2019re back in fourth after gaining six quick points. LAFC is in sixth after winning just once in eight MLS games since the World Cup break and drawing four times.<\/p>\n

Arena noted that the Quakes have conceded just three goals in the last four games, which have resulted in two draws and two wins. They gave up 12 goals in the previous four games, including a 5-1 drubbing at home to Minnesota<\/a> on Aug. 22.<\/p>\n

San Jose won the first game in this rivalry this season, beating LAFC 4-1 in April<\/a> at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. Ousseni Bouda scored a pair of goals in that win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rivalries the California teams have are the best in the history of this league,\u201d said Arena, who has been in American soccer since before MLS was founded and coached the LA Galaxy to three MLS Cups. \u201cThere\u2019s great passion among the fans and the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

One major factor in San Jose\u2019s return to form is Tsakiris, the 21-year-old homegrown midfielder who played his first full 90 minutes in more than four months in that win at San Diego. Tsakaris had a goal and two assists in that game as he announced his full return from a groin injury that required surgery in May. His 10 assists still have him tied for 10th place in the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s been a remarkable recovery for him from surgery,\u201d Arena said of Tsakiris. \u201cWe\u2019ve tried to be smart with his minutes; we may have overdone it last week. He\u2019s done exceptionally well and worked really hard to be where he is today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Jose Earthquakes have a massive opportunity for gains on several fronts in their match Saturday against…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,402,88,1084,90,89,197,198,1083,200,127],"class_list":["post-466847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-inside-sports","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-earthquakes","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-soccer","tag-south-bay","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}