San Jose Earthquakes delivered a ruthless first-half display on Saturday night at PayPal Park, sweeping aside San Diego FC 3-0 in Major League Soccer. All three goals arrived before the interval as Niko Tsakiris opened the scoring in the 13th minute, doubled the lead with a penalty in the 34th, and Preston Judd added a third in first-half stoppage time at 45’+3′.
The Earthquakes set the tone early with aggressive attacking intent, even after Ousseni Bouda went into the book in the 11th minute. Two minutes later, San Jose had the breakthrough. Tsakiris found the decisive touch in the 13th minute, capping a bright opening spell from the home side and igniting the crowd in San Jose.
San Diego FC initially saw plenty of the ball, finishing with 59.9 percent possession, but that control rarely translated into real threat in the final third. The visitors managed only four total shots and just one effort on target all night, while San Jose were far more direct and dangerous, producing 24 shots and forcing the issue repeatedly.
The fixture swung sharply in the 32nd minute when San Diego defender Manu Duah was shown a red card, leaving the visitors to play the remainder of the night with 10 men. San Jose quickly took advantage. Just two minutes later, Tsakiris stepped up and calmly converted from the penalty spot in the 34th minute to make it 2-0 and put the Earthquakes firmly in control.
Any lingering doubt about the outcome disappeared deep into first-half stoppage time. In the 45’+3′ minute, Preston Judd added San Jose’s third goal, finishing off another strong attacking move to send the hosts into the break with a commanding 3-0 lead.
The second half did not produce any further goals, but San Jose never allowed the contest to drift back into balance. The Earthquakes continued to create openings, ending the night with 10 shots on target, seven corners, and 16 shot assists. San Diego, to their credit, kept battling despite the man disadvantage, but yellow cards for Osvald Søe in the 52nd minute and Jeppe Tverskov in the 59th reflected a side under sustained pressure.
San Jose’s discipline was not spotless either, with Jonathan Gonzalez booked in the 77th minute and Tsakiris shown a yellow card in the 90’+3′ minute, but by then the result had long since been settled. The Earthquakes were organized without the ball, clinical in front of goal, and fully deserving of a comfortable clean-sheet victory.
The win lifts San Jose Earthquakes to 5-0-1 on the season, continuing an impressive run of form. For San Diego FC, now 3-2-1, this was a punishing night in which early defensive issues and the Duah dismissal left too much to overcome. At PayPal Park, the story belonged to Tsakiris, whose two-goal performance set the platform for one of San Jose’s most convincing wins of the campaign.
