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Galaxy fall to Earthquakes in stoppage time

The Cali Clasico is known for late drama. This time, the San Jose Earthquakes got the better end of the deal.

The Los Angeles Galaxy took an early lead thanks to a rare Jelle van Damme goal but played defensive for the remainder of the match, which came back to haunt them when Shea Salinas banged home a winner in stoppage time to give the Earthquakes a 2-1 at Stanford Stadium.

It was a rather makeshift team for the Galaxy, with injuries and suspensions allowing five homegrown players to get the start again, making the Galaxy the first team to start five homegrown players multiple times in a season.

Both sides got chances early on but the Galaxy earned a free kick on the left flank in a good spot to cross. Jose Villarreal stepped up and swung the ball into the box, where Jelle van Damme waited at the back post and smashed home the shot with a left-footed volley to give LA the 1-0 lead in the 11th minute.

The young Galaxy side defended for most of the remainder of the first half but had some chances through Jose Villarreal and Bradford Jamieson.

The Galaxy struggled to get inside San Jose’s penalty area, and chose to take shots from outside the box. These shots were either comfortably saved by David Bingham or launched into the stands at Stanford Stadium.

At halftime the Galaxy led the Earthquakes 1-0.

The Galaxy was on the back foot straight from the start in the second half. But, LA managed to keep San Jose from getting shots on goal against a recently shaky Clement Diop.

Tommy Thompson rattled shot off the crossbar for the home side in the 52nd minute. The pressure was building from San Jose with the Earthquakes possessing 70 percent of the ball by the 60th minute.

San Jose earned a free kick on a Van Damme foul near the corner flag on the right wing. LA cleared the chance but the pressure was not released yet.

The Earthquakes attacked and Cordell Cato collided with Diop and received medical treatment for an apparent head injury.

Raul Mendiola entered the game for Jose Villarreal in the 70th minute, but LA’s midfield struggled to keep the Earthquakes away from the Galaxy’s final third while they found difficulty to get into the attack.

In the 74th, Mendiola had a cross blocked behind for a corner by Bingham. The Galaxy nearly scored on the attack, having two shots stopped in front of goal, one by Shea Salinas and another by Bingham.

Attacking the other way, the Earthquakes captain Chris Wondolowski brought down a punt from Bingham with a perfect touch, then struck a left-footed shot into the back of Diop’s net to equalize thanks to a deflection. The goal is Wondolowski’s seventh of the year.

In stoppage time, the ball fell to Salinas on the right side of the box and he struck home a shot off the underside of the crossbar to win the game for the Earthquakes with just more than a minute to play.

The Galaxy takes on Real Salt Lake at the Stubhub Center on July 4 at 7:30 p.m. PT.

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