A thoroughly boring first half came to an end with both the visiting New York Red Bulls and homestanding San Jose Earthquakes goalless at Buck Shaw Stadium. With the return leg in New York next week, San Jose will have to go hunting for goals in the second half because needing to beat the Red Bulls on the road to advance will be a tall task.
: Major League Soccer Playoffs, New York Red Bulls vs. San Jose Earthquakes, Leg 1: Dour First Half Ends Scoreless
The Red Bulls had the better of the chances in the first half and it started early on. Mehdi Ballouchy got on the end of a Rafa Marques corner hit and forced a solid save from Jon Busch in the fifth minute and not long after Joel Lindpere looked as if he would put New York ahead, but Busch made a fantastic diving save to keep the match scoreless.
After a couple decent San Jose chances, the best of which was when Geovanni was in alone on a tight angle and put his shot in the side netting, the match turned into a bore. Both sides struggled to maintain possession and any forays into the attacking third resulted in a poor pass or cross.
Lindpere had the best chance of the first half just before the halftime whistle when he was able to beat a sprawling Busch, but Jason Hernandez got a thigh to the ball on the goal line to save the Earthquakes.
If San Jose is to have any chance, they will have to establish some width because Geovanni, Ryan Johnson and Chris Wondolowski have all found themselves short on space in the center of the pitch. If they can put a couple balls on goal they may catch a break because Bouna Condoul has not looked completely confident in net,. However they do it, San Jose needs a goal because they cannot afford to go back east needing anything more than a draw.
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