The San Jose Earthquakes beat Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 31, at PayPal Park in their final regular-season home game. The win moved them up to third in the Western Conference with one game left.
How it happened
RSL’s Dominik Marczuk fouled Jamar Ricketts at the edge of the box in the first minute. Ousseni Bouda scored on the free kick in the second minute. In the 17th minute, Niko Tsakiris and Preston Judd helped set up Ricketts, whose cross found Benji Kikanović sliding in at close range for a 2-0 lead.
RSL answered in the 23rd minute when Juan Manuel Sanabria headed in a cross from Sam Junqua. RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral made back-to-back saves in the 25th and 27th minutes. Neither team scored in the second half.
What it means
San Jose has 52 points, its most since 2013, when it had 51. The top four teams in each conference get home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The loss dropped RSL to 10th in the West, below the playoff line.
The Quakes finish the regular season at Minnesota United on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m. PT on Apple TV. For the pregame setup, see our preview.