SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Saturday night, Conor Casey came off the bench to score two second-half goals, the second with just four minutes left in regulation, to take the Philadelphia Union past the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 in front of a sellout Avaya Stadium crowd.
Chris Wondolowski opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 64th minute, which Casey answered by heading home his second and third goals of the season. The win lifted the Union into seventh place, with 30 points from a 8-14-6 record.
The loss snapped San Jose’s four-game winning streak, and at 11-11-5 and 38 points, they remain in seventh place in the West.
Both teams began the night missing some key players. For the Philadelphia side, international duty called goalkeeper Andre Blake (Jamaica) away. The league's leader in assists, Cristian Maidana, served a red card suspension. Maurice Edu was also out injured. Meanwhile San Jose’s midfield was depleted with Anibal Godoy (Panama) and Sanna Nyassi (Gambia) busy with their own national teams.
San Jose lost another starter 10 minutes before half-time when Victor Bernardez went down with a strained right hamstring. J.J. Koval replaced him. Just a minute later, Koval’s collision with C.J. Sapong inside the penalty area had the Union forward appealing for a penalty, but none was given.
A disjointed first half featured just one shot on goal, a 20-yard effort from Philadelphia’s Vincent Nogueira that rolled right at goalkeeper David Bingham.
The second half started with San Jose on the attack. A corner kick from Matías Pérez García found Koval open 10 yards from goal, but his shot couldn’t get through the crowd in front of the net.
Just past the hour mark, Shaun Francis' driven cross was ruled deflected by the hand of Fabinho, earning the Union defender a yellow card and giving San Jose a penalty. Wondolowski caught Philadelphia goalkeeper John McCarthy guessing the wrong way on the penalty kick, and rolled home his 13th goal of the season to put the Earthquakes on top 1-0.
Philadelphia answered by bringing on Casey in the 71st minute, replacing Sebastien Le Toux. The move turned out to be the right one, as three minutes later, Casey nodded home a Raymon Gaddis cross to even the score at 1-1.
The goal broke San Jose’s scoreless streak at 447 minutes, the longest in MLS this season.
San Jose looked to regain the lead in the 85th minute when Wondolowski got on the end of a Shea Salinas corner kick for a header from close range, but his shot was hit right at McCarthy.
Philadelphia then scored the deciding goal a minute later when Tranquillo Barnetta’s free kick found Casey inside the penalty area for an open header. The headed brace was Casey's first since 2009, and this was Philadelphia’s first ever win in San Jose. The victory gives them two wins and two ties in their last five matches.
Both teams continue their playoff chase next Saturday. The home stand continues for San Jose as they host Seattle at Avaya Stadium, while Philadelphia returns home to PPL Park to face Columbus.
