The San Jose Earthquakes survived the late ejection of Tanner Beason and considerable second-half pressure to earn a 0-0 draw at D.C. United on Saturday night.
Daniel made eight saves to help the Quakes earn a second consecutive draw and record a fourth clean sheet in their last five road matches.
San Jose (9-9-10, 37 points) missed a chance to move ahead of Vancouver in the Western Conference standings. Earthquakes center backs Daniel Munie and Rodrigues made goal-line clearances to help earn a point that could be beneficial in a tight playoff race.
Alex Bono made two stops to keep his second consecutive clean sheet for the hosts, who failed to secure their first back-to-back home wins this season in MLS play and remained ninth in the East.
Mateusz Klich and Christian Benteke came closest to scoring for D.C. (9-12-7, 34 points), which could’ve climbed above eighth-place Montreal with a win.
Beason was sent off in the 89th minute for bringing down Ted Ku-DiPietro and denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, on a call that was upgraded from a yellow card by referee Tori Penso after a video review.
That led to some tense late moments, including when Munie blocked Erik Hurtado’s late stoppage-time effort from close range.
Gabriel Priani thought he’d scored his first MLS goal for D.C. in the 53rd minute, but his clever redirection was ruled offside by Penso after another video review.
Klich forced SJ goalkeeper Daniel into a sprawling save in the 70th minute on a long-range effort that was heading toward the top right corner.
Five minutes later, Benteke saw his header denied by a combination of the crossbar and the shoulder of Rodrigues on the goal line.
With influential midfielder Carlos Gruezo missing the match to play for his international team, Quakes manager Luchi Gonzalez opted for an unexpected 3-4-1-2 formation.
And perhaps that move gave the visitors an early edge, as San Jose was the more threatening team in the first half. Jeremy Ebobisse came closest to scoring, forcing Bono into a point-blank stop about midway through the opening period after a D.C. turnover.
–Field Level Media
