Melissa McKenzie's Articles

By Melissa McKenzie

The top three scorers in the MLS congregated at Red Bull Arena on April 14. New York Red Bulls’ Kenny Cooper and Thierry Henry faced the San Jose Earthquakes’ wonder striker Chris Wondolowski in an east-west match up that was filled with controversy late in the first half.

Henry and Cooper teamed up for the first of New York’s pair of goals five minutes into the match. Ten minutes later, Rafael Baca evened the score when he sent a pass from Khari Stephenson past Red Bulls’ keeper, Ryan Meara.

New York struck again in the 22nd minute. Dane Richards dished the ball to Dax McCarty who volleyed it past Jon Busch. The goal was McCarty’s first in New York. Just over ten minutes after the McCarty score, Ramiro Corrales started the charge that would lead to the equalizer. Corrales got the ball to Steven Beitashour who crossed it to Shea Salinas. Salinas sent the ball back to the front of the goal where none other than Wondolowski was waiting. Wondo dived forward and headed the ball into the net to put the score at 2-2.

The controversy began in the 42nd minute. Rafael Marquez got into a tussle with Salinas. Marquez wrapped up Salinas and drove him to the ground. As Marquez rolled over the top of Salinas, it appeared as if he flicked his foot at the head of the San Jose winger. No foul was called on Marquez in what many consider to be an extremely dirty play and a huge showing of unsportsmanlike conduct and Salinas suffered a broken collarbone in an incident that will most likely be reviewed by the league.

Also, prior to the half, Quakes’ defender Victor Bernardez sprained his left knee while going up for a header.

The second half was much less controversial and neither team saw many scoring chances. The 2-2 score held as the Quakes move to 4-1-1 on the season.

San Jose plays Real Salt Lake at home on April 21. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.

Aftershocks
Salinas will have surgery to repair the fracture to his left clavicle today and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Bernardez will be out this weekend with an MCL sprain. Joey Gjersten (knee surgery) and Tim Ward (soft tissue injury) remain on the Quakes’ injured list.