Interim San Jose Earthquakes boss Ian Russell is keen to carry the momentum from last week’s crucial victory over the Chicago Fire into Saturday, when Sporting Kansas City visit PayPal Park.
The Earthquakes halted a nine-match winless run and recorded their first victory in three games under Russell last time out, Hernan Lopez’s goal proving enough to beat Chicago.
San Jose remain six points adrift of their nearest rivals – Saturday’s opponents Sporting – at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but Russell hopes last week’s win can be a turning point.
“We needed a win. The Clasico was disappointing and against St. Louis we were flat. I thought we were on the front foot and deserved to win,” Russell said.
“We’re happy with how the players responded and got after it. We’ve had some close ones go the other way.
“Depending on the opponent, the main objective for us was to stop conceding goals. We needed to grind out a game like that and it gives us confidence moving forward.
“We just need to build momentum from that last game and carry it on to Sporting.”
Sporting were also victorious last week, beating FC Dallas 3-2 in a game tha
