San Jose Earthquakes score late to tie FC Dallas, remain in play-in position as MLS All-Star break nears

SAN JOSE Josef Martinez came through just in the nick of time The San Jose Earthquakes striker saved the home crew from an ugly end on Wednesday night at PayPal Park avoiding a loss to bottom-of-the-table FC Dallas with a clutch th-minute header that erased a one goal deficit and secured a - tie for San Jose The Quakes had their hands full with Dallas forward Petar Musa who netted goals late in the first half and in the th minute to power the visitors offensive attack The Earthquakes didn t leave the encounter unscathed on the injury front either Defender Vitor Costa after picking up a yellow card during a collision in the th minute left the field on a stretcher in the th and was replaced by substitute Dave Romney The Quakes went up - in the st after Ian Harkes finished a sequence where the ball touched six Quakes players in or around the -yard box Martinez who set up Harkes in an opening just outside the box was credited with the assist after Harkes bent the ball into the top-right corner of the net Musa scored an equalizer for FC Dallas in the third minute of first-half stoppage time finishing the play after Patrickson Delgado hit the crossbar after trying to chip the ball past Quakes goalkeeper Daniel with a wide-open net in front of him Related Articles Quakes captain Cristian Espinoza named MLS All-Star for second time Tani Oluwaseyi helps Minnesota hand San Jose Earthquakes a - defeat San Jose Earthquakes fall in shootout fail to reach U S Open Cup semifinals Quakes loan out former record signee Hern n L pez in return to Argentina San Jose Earthquakes use New York s own goal to keep unbeaten streak alive with - draw Daniel made a crucial save in the th minute using his body to stop a point-blank attempt from Shaq Moore inside the box San Jose nearly took the lead in the rd minute on an own goal when newly minted MLS All-Star Cristian Espinoza served a ball in from the right wing and Dallas defender Lalas Abubakar volleyed it off the crossbar with his foot An informed crowd of fans attended the midweek match though numerous sections of empty seats were visible The Quakes are now ninth in the MLS Western Conference standings occupying the final play-in spot in the West playoff field Check back for updates to this story