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Djalo leads the way as 'Quakes crush Fire

Jul 24, 2014 - 4:44 AM Santa Clara, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The San Jose Earthquakes snapped a five- match winless skid in a big way on Wednesday, securing a 5-1 win over the Chicago Fire at Buck Shaw Stadium behind a goal and three assists from Yannick Djalo.

Shea Salinas fired San Jose in front on the stroke of halftime, while the hosts poured it on after the break with goals from Atiba Harris, Chris Wondolowski, Djalo and Cordell Cato.

Grant Ward netted the lone goal for the Fire, who suffered their first loss in five matches.

The Earthquakes took the game to Chicago from the start and were the much more threatening side in the opening half.

Sam Cronin nearly put the hosts ahead in the 27th minute when he curled a shot just wide of the post, but the reward finally came in the 45th minute when Salinas tracked down a long ball from Djalo on the left wing, cut inside and lashed a shot into the top corner of the net.

It was a deserved lead for San Jose, and after Chicago's Quincy Amarikwa went close in the 49th minute, the Earthquakes responded with a second goal a few minutes later.

Wondolowski got into the penalty area and fired a low shot on goal that was saved by goalkeeper Sean Johnson, only for Harris to pounce on the rebound and score on a simple tap in.

The lead swelled to 3-0 10 minutes later with Wondolowski finding the net after taking a pass from Djalo. The American international worked his way into the area and saw his left-footed shot take a slight deflection off a Fire defender on its way into the net.

Ward pulled a goal back for Chicago in the 75th with a well-placed first-time finish from outside the penalty area. However, Djalo sealed the win four minutes later with a clever lob over Johnson, while Cato capped the scoring six minutes from time.