Ebobisse's brace leads Earthquakes over Sporting KC 3-0

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Jeremy Ebobisse scored a goal in each half and the San Jose Earthquakes rolled to a 3-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night.

The Earthquakes (4-2-2) beat Sporting KC (0-5-3) for just the second time in the last 15 match-ups. San Jose improved to 4-0-1 in its last five matches at home, its best effort since a six-match unbeaten run to begin the 2017 season.

Cristian Espinoza staked the Earthquakes to an early lead when he scored in the ninth minute with assists from Cade Cowell and Jamiro Monteiro. Espinzoa has scored the first goal in a match four times this season — tops in the league.

Sporting KC was forced to play a man down after Robert Castellanos received a red card in the 38th minute. Ebobisse followed with a penalty-kick goal to make it 2-0.

Ebobisse found the net again in the 51st minute with assists from Paul Marie and Cowell to cap the scoring.

Sporting KC entered play with just two points through its first seven matches — something only done previously in the league by the 1999 Kansas City Wizards.

San Jose had a 10-9 edge in shots and a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal.

JT Marcinkowski finished with two saves to earn the clean sheet for the Earthquakes. Tim Melia saved three shots for Sporting KC.

San Jose hits the road to play Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Sporting KC travels to play the New England Revolution on Saturday.

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