Earthquakes fall out of MLS playoff spot as St. Louis City hands San Jose a 3-1 loss

"Brendan McSorley had two goals and an assist - the 22-year-old's first goal contributions in MLS - and Roman Bürki had nine saves, to lead St. Louis City's attack. McSorley, who made his first career start, put away a volley from the top of the 6-yard box to open the scoring in the 10th minute. Chris Durkin played a long arcing ball-in from well outside the area to the back post and João Klauss flicked a header to McSorley for the finish."

"Marcel Hartel, with his right foot, gently stopped a header from McSorley, turned and fired a left-foot shot from inside the penalty arc to make it 2-0 in the 19th. He also played a perfectly-placed ball-in to McSorley for a header that gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead in the 45th minute. Cristian Arango converted from the penalty spot in the 31th to account for the Earthquakes' only goal."

"San Jose (9-14-8) has 35 points and fell behind ninth-place Dallas (37 points), which now holds the last playoff berth in the Western Conference with three games left in the regular season. The Quakes fell all the way to 11th place, one point behind Houston. San Jose had 56% possession and 23 shots, 11 on target. McSorley, at the goal line, blocked a shot by Arango from the center of the area in the 61st minute. The Earthquakes are back in action next Saturday night in San Diego against San Diego FC (17-6-8), the first-place team in the Western Conference."

San Jose Earthquakes fell 3-1 to St. Louis City at PayPal Park, marking their third straight loss by two goals and causing them to drop out of the Western Conference playoff positions. San Jose sits at 35 points (9-14-8) in 11th place, trailing ninth-place Dallas (37) and one point behind Houston. St. Louis City won back-to-back matches and remains unbeaten (6-0-0) against San Jose in MLS history. Brendan McSorley recorded two goals and an assist in his first start while Roman Bürki made nine saves. Cristian Arango scored San Jose's lone goal from the penalty spot. San Jose had 56% possession and 23 shots (11 on target).

Read at The Mercury News