Earthquakes settle 1-1 draw with Galaxy in 105th Cali Classico

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The are three certainties in life: death, taxes and late drama at the California Classico.

The San Jose Earthquakes had three points snatched away from them in the final minute of a high intensity match as they settled for a 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy in the 105th California Classico on Saturday evening at Stanford Stadium.

With the score tied at one a piece, the Quakes had a golden chance to win the game late in stoppage time. Ousseni Bouda was tripped up by by Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski inside the box in the 5th minute of stoppage time resulting in a penalty. The ensuing kick by star striker Timo Werner was denied by a diving save from the former San Jose keeper to help steal away two additional points for San Jose.

San Jose has earned points in two of its last three matches and remained tied atop the Western Conference standings with the Vancouver Whitecaps. Los Angeles extended its winless streak to four matches with the draw.

“Classic rivalry game," said Quakes head coach Bruce Arena. "Give both teams credit. A lot of intensity, really hard played for 90-plus minutes, so give both teams credit, Would've been nice to walk off the field with the three points for sure. We played really hard in the second half. We did a good job in the second half. Both teams were coming off a loss this week, and coming in needing to have the pride to put it on the line in a rivalry game. I’ve been in this league from the start ... and this is the best rivalry in Major League Soccer. And it was demonstrated tonight, so credit to both teams.”

San Jose was without captain Ronaldo Vieira and forward Preston Judd who were suspended for the match due to yellow card accumulation from their last match against Orlando City. Los Angeles was without striker João Klauss who was placed on the Injured List back on May 13th.

Los Angeles (5-7-6-21 points) drew first blood in the 12th minute. Harbor Miller started a counterattack down the right wing. Miller found Marco Reus in the middle of the pitch. Reus made a quick pass out to Joesph Paintsil on the left wing and the Ghanian striker beat Quakes goalkeeper Angus Gunn with a right-footed shot for his fourth goal of the season.

San Jose (10-4-3-33 points) had two quality chances in the first ten minutes of a wide open first half. In the ninth minute, Jack Skahan had a golden attempt from inside the box after a nice centering feed from Ousseni Bouda. However, Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski kept it from going into the back of the net. A minute later a cross into the box from Timo Werner crept out to Nick Fernandez but his shot attempt sailed wide right.

"When we started the season, we were winning a lot of games, and in every interview, we said the same thing: there's no need to think we're the best team in the world," said Bouda about the team's slow start to the second half of the season. "That mindset doesn't change now. Just because we don't win a game doesn't mean we're the worst team in the world either. It's about taking it one game at a time, like we've always said. Whether we win, lose, or draw, we have to keep showing up, be the best version of ourselves, and carry that mentality through the second half of the season."

The Earthquakes dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half with chances from Timo Werner and Benji Kinkanovic. A shot from Werner from the left wing was stoned away by Marcinkowski in the 50th minute. Then in the 54th minute the former Quakes goalkeeper stopped a header attempt by Kikanovic.

San Jose finally hit paydirt in the 63rd minute off of a set piece. Werner’s free kick from 20 yards out was deflected off the head of Galaxy center back Justin Haak that caromed off of the crossbar. The rebound found Kikanovic who sent the ball toward the net where a crashing Reid Roberts, who earned the Man of the Match, tapped it home for his second goal of the season.

“I think the Galaxy were a little bit fatigued because we had a lot of the ball during the game, and over the last 20-30 minutes I thought you could see the difference. They were a little tired. We had the momentum in the game and got into our attacking third, but give them credit. They did an outstanding job defensively. They got eight, nine players behind the ball at times. We just had to execute better technically, play a little quicker in the final third to be able to put a little more pressure on them. And I think we were able to do that, although we walk away with only one goal, so that’s the difference in the outcome,” Arena said.

Marcinkowski finished the match with five saves on six shots on target. Gunn made one save on two shots to earn his first point in a Quakes kit.

GAME NOTES: Both squads finished the match with six corner kicks.

In MLS regular-season play, San Jose is 29-40-19 (128 GF, 143 GA) against LA, and 18-16-12 (70 GF, 69 GA) at home. I

The Quakes are now 5-3-5 against the Galaxy at Stanford, with four come-from-behind victories.

The 105th California Classico was the seventh most attended match this season in MLS.

MOST ATTENDED MLS REGULAR-SEASON GAMES IN 2026 1 April 18 Empower Field at Mile High Inter Miami CF at Colorado Rapids 75,824

2 Feb. 21 L.A. Memorial Coliseum Inter Miami CF at LAFC 75,673

3 March 7 M&T Bank Stadium Inter Miami CF at D.C. United 72,026

4 March 7 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Real Salt Lake at Atlanta United 53,862

5 March 22 Yankee Stadium Inter Miami CF at New York City FC 45,845

6 May 9 BMO Field Inter Miami CF at Toronto FC 44,828

7 July 25 Stanford Stadium LA Galaxy at San Jose Earthquakes 43,026

8 May 9 Mercedes-Benz Stadium LA Galaxy at Atlanta United 40,392

9 April 18 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Nashville SC at Atlanta United 35,895

10 March 7 Bank of America Stadium Austin FC at Charlotte FC 35,611

San Jose heads back out on the road to take on FC Cincinnati on Saturday August 1st at 4:30pm at TQL Stadium.