Quakes extend unbeaten streak to 8, continue defending champion Galaxy’s historically bad start

By GREG BEACHAM CARSON Calif AP Substitute Ousseni Bouda scored in the th minute and the San Jose Earthquakes extended the LA Galaxy s MLS record season-opening winless streak to games with a - domination Wednesday night Bouda slipped between two defenders and got his third goal of the season on a precise pass from fellow substitute Preston Judd for the Quakes - - points who snapped a four-game losing streak in the California Clasico rivalry Earl Edwards Jr made six saves to keep his third clean sheet of the season for San Jose which is unbeaten in eight matches across all competitions in May Quakes head coach Bruce Arena had a achieving return to the stadium where he led the Galaxy for nine seasons and won three MLS Cup championships I really enjoyed it here I have a lot of good friends here friends for life Arena commented during his postgame press conference I enjoyed living in LA and I enjoyed coaching the Galaxy so it s nice to come back The defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy - - points are edging toward historic ignominy after dropping yet another match at the stadium where they went unbeaten in and won their league-record sixth title in December The MLS record is straight winless matches in league play by the MetroStars in Real Salt Lake also played straight without a win from - The Galaxy nearly salvaged a draw in the final minute of second-half injury time but Edwards saved captain Maya Yoshida s header deep in the San Jose box LA supporters chanted We want better after the final whistle The Galaxy s woes have only compounded throughout the new season despite the return to vitality of stars Joseph Paintsil Gabriel Pec and Marco Reus All three international veterans played major roles on last year s championship squad but were limited by injury in the new year Reus left in the th minute against San Jose after sitting down on the grass without contact and eventually walking off the field Reus struggled with a knee injury earlier in the season but had been playing well in modern matches Disorganized in attack and lacking any crispness in their passing the Galaxy still look lost without Catalan midfielder Riqui Puig who orchestrated their excellence throughout the season before tearing a knee ligament in the conference final Puig could return this summer but LA also had to part with a handful of key contributors to last season s association due to the salary cap constraints created annually for the MLS champion by title bonuses in their players contracts The Galaxy s leadership has declined to panic during this mammoth skid even extending the contract of head coach Greg Vanney two weeks ago when the winless streak was at a mere games Related Articles SJ Earthquakes rally to take lead but Houston scores in stoppage time for - tie Earthquakes outlast Timbers with late goal to reach U S Open Cup quarterfinals San Jose Earthquakes keep unbeaten streak alive after - draw with New England Earthquakes on Messi fan mania around Inter Miami I ve had an actual dream of playing against Messi Earthquakes draw with Inter Miami as coach Arena intervenes between Messi ref LA s Novak Micovic had to make two diving saves in the first two minutes of play and he finished with four saves in the scoreless first half San Jose s Ian Harkes hit the crossbar from long range in the nd minute If the Galaxy don t beat Salt Lake in Saturday or win at St Louis on June they could tie the MetroStars record June at Colorado The Quakes face St Louis on Saturday at a m Pacific Time