Skidding Earthquakes, FC Dallas set sights on rebound

Three weeks after their initial meeting, the host San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas complete the season series as they face each other on Wednesday night.

The Earthquakes doubled up Dallas 4-2 in Frisco, Texas, on June 25 as Beau Leroux's goal broke a 2-2 deadlock while Dallas' Kaick (79th minute) and Sebastien Ibeagha (85th minute) were each shown red cards.

The Quakes (7-8-7, 28 points), currently eighth in the Western Conference, haven't won since, drawing back-to-back matches before a 4-1 loss to Minnesota United on Saturday.

"(It was a) poor performance and no excuses on our part," Quakes coach Bruce Arena said after the loss to Minnesota. "It wasn't a lack of effort, but we didn't execute on two restarts, which has been a good part of our game this year. ... We didn't execute properly."

San Jose did welcome Bruno Wilson back to the lineup for the first time in three months (leg injury), with the defender scoring his first goal of the season. The team also learned on Tuesday that Cristian Espinoza (four goals, 10 assists) had been added to the MLS All-Star roster.

Meanwhile, Dallas (5-10-6, 21 points) has been mired in a much more difficult stretch.

After seeing its losing streak reach four matches with a 2-0 loss to Los Angeles FC on Saturday -- midfielder Luciano Acosta (five goals, one assist) entered that one as a second-half substitute -- Eric Quill's side has won just once in its last 11 matches (1-7-3) and sit in 13th in the West.

"We started pretty bright, and then the first goal off of our mistake in the build, it changed the game," the FC Dallas coach said after his team's loss.

Quill expressed a positive sentiment toward the second half, even though Dallas was held off the scoresheet.

"We made some changes and created a little bit but not enough," he said. "For me, on the night we were pretty flat with the ball and not a lot of high-level chance creation.

"I can't fault the effort for the guys. They worked hard. They fought, but we didn't keep the ball and move them around enough to develop quality chances."

--Field Level Media