2024 Leagues Cup has kicked off across the country and one of its first stops was in Santa Clara, California at Levi’s Stadium for a match up between Chivas de Guadalajara versus the San Jose earthquakes in a battle between Liga MX and MLS. This match also marked the return of former Earthquakes star Cade Cowell, as he returns with his new team to take part in the first competitive matchup between the two clubs with his new club in Chivas.
The story couldn’t be any different for these two clubs as the Chivas have been on a recent winning streak, winning the last two games before leaks cut, and the San Jose earthquakes have been on a pace to have one of their worst MLS seasons. But the important thing about Leagues Cup is that teams are able to clean their slate and that’s what both teams were looking to do with their starts in the Leagues Cup this year.
The atmosphere was known to be electric as it was announced earlier in the week that ticket sales were surpassing 50,000 fans to the point where they had to open up a whole section of seating in the stadium to fit the high capacity crowd that was just about to fill the stadium for the start of Leagues Cup in the Bay Area. With a high number of Mexicans living in the Bay Area this gave the chance to see Chivas take on the local San Jose Earthquakes. It was known that this game would have a high amounts of Mexican fans in the stands, and that couldn’t have been shown more than the sea of red and white jerseys in the parking lot. While walking around the parking lot with Favian Renkel of 90 Minute, along with his media team, I was able to see that a lot of fans going to the game were fans of both clubs or at least had some support for both clubs. For some fans, this was their first time being able to see their favorite team from Mexico, and for others it was just the excitement of what this tournament does across the country when it is on.
After the national anthems of both the United States in Mexico, played the stadium erupted as a start of the Leagues Cup 2024 for both the clubs has officially begun with the starting whistle. The Earthquakes started with a familiar lineup, in terms of personnel, but there was a notable change at goalkeeper. Goalkeeper Daniel was finally able to return after missing almost the entire 2024 campaign, so far, due to injury and he came back with a look of confidence that seemed to have given his team their own confidence back. They also had Benji Kikanovic at Right Back who seems to be a jack of all trades being able to defend well, and even assist with the attack with his speed. It appears that this newer lineup has given fans some hope of better play from the scheme of interim head coach Ian Russell.
The San Jose Earthquakes started this game with a tempo that you honestly haven’t seen all year. It couldn’t be more evident than an early opening goal from Jeremy Ebobisse in the fifth minute assisted by a perfect cross from Cristian Espinoza. The Earthquakes were able to capitalize on this moment, and surprisingly, were really controlling the tempo very early in this matchup against Chivas. Throughout the first half they gave the Chivas defense a lot of problems on the both wing sides.
When Chivas did respond, they were responding with speed and precision passing that continued to get the ball close to the bock, but stellar defending from Rodrigues, Vitor Costa, Kikanovic and from the goalkeeper Daniel denied a lot of threats. Players like Cade Cowell created a lot of offensive rhythm for the Chivas in this game but unfortunately the first half they just couldn’t get a ball into the back of the net. The first half ended 1-0 with San Jose having a lot of momentum due to the early goal and a great defensive back line holding their ground.
Moving into the second half it was a lot of the same as the first half that you could tell that Chivas were getting frustrated for how well the San Jose earthquakes were defending that back line but also creating a lot of offensive pressure with the likes of Cristian Espinoza, Herńan Lopez, and Jeremy Ebobisse. The game went back-and-forth in terms of opportunity, but in the mirror minutes of extra time, the Chivas were able to equalize the goal a minute before stoppage time was ending an order to send the game to penalty kicks tied 1-1.
Daniel was able to set the tone early with a blocked Chivas PK, and you were able to feel the momentum swiftly change into the direction of the San Jose Earthquakes. With misses on both sides, it came down to Vitor Costa who was able to secure his PK in the net and secure the upset victory for the Earthquakes as they were able to defeat the Chivas in penalties. Due to the format of the tournament, both teams did leave with points as the Quakes secured two points and the Chivas were able to secure one point.
The road leads the earthquakes back home to PayPal far as they host the LA Galaxy in a game that if they are to win, they will be in to the next round of Leagues Cup 2024. The Chivas will be ready to take on LA Galaxy, after this gave vs. San Jose, to conclude the first round of their Leagues Cup 2024 group.
Additional Links:
Rocha Report: www.rochamultimedia.com/rochareport
Rocha Multimedia: www.rochamultimedia.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/rochamultimedia
Additional Images from Chivas De Guadalajara vs. San Jose Earthquakes (July 27th, 2024):
