The San Jose Earthquakes’ 1-1 draw at the New York Red Bulls was marred by a Red Bulls player’s alleged use of a racial slur on Saturday night in Harrison, New Jersey.
Major League Soccer announced an investigation after Saturday’s match, saying the league will look into the words said by Red Bulls forward Dante Vanzeir.
Vanzeir allegedly uttered a racial slur after a foul in the 54th minute of play. Several Earthquakes players responded to the words, resulting in a small fracas on the pitch and a nearly 20-minute stoppage in the match before play resumed.
A statement from Major League Soccer: pic.twitter.com/KYGgKzlaU4 — MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) April 9, 2023
After the match, Earthquakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse told the media, “I know what I heard” about the alleged racial epithet used by Vanzeir.
“What we saw tonight should not be a part of the game,” Ebobisse said. “The reason why I felt, after a lengthy conversation, that we should continue on with the game is because the player who said the word claimed that it was not aimed at any of us.”
Here are the opening comments from Jeremy Ebobisse in tonight’s press conference as shared on The Aftershock Postgame Show. Thank you to @kingjebo and Luchi Gonzalez for their candidness and for answering our questions. #Quakes74 #RBNY Full video here: https://t.co/niv7g5TmCE pic.twitter.com/FSUNLuxhnW — Quakes Epicenter (@QuakesEpicenter) April 9, 2023
Vanzeir, 24, was on the pitch for another 15 minutes after play resumed before being substituted off. Earthquakes manager Luchi Gonzalez spent part of the 20-minute talk advocating for his removal to his counterpart, Red Bulls manager Gerhard Struber.
“When I listen to my players in terms of what was said or not said, there are things there that are unacceptable,” Gonzalez told the media. “It takes precedent over the game we play.”
Ebobisse added, “It’s just a difficult moment. Once again, players being put in charge, forced to make a decision, manage all sorts of emotions because the system is not robust enough to capture moments and gain clarity within a matter of minutes, seconds that these actions happen.”
Vanzeir did not speak to media after the match and his club released a statement on Twitter, with the Red Bulls saying they will fully cooperate with the MLS investigation and that they “do not condone any form of harrassment or discrimination.”
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Here’s what you need to know as Bay Area gets NWSL team San Jose Earthquakes | Women’s pro soccer to return to Bay Area as NWSL awards team to star-studded bid The fracas led to an MLS-record 22 minutes of stoppage time, with New York’s Tom Barlow scoring in the 17th minute of second-half stoppage time to rally the New York Red Bulls to a 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.
Neither team scored until Cristian Espinoza took a pass from Carlos Gruezo and found the net in the 80th minute to put San Jose (3-2-2) on top. After the goal, several Earthquakes players did a simultaneous hushing celebration toward the home crowd.
Cristian Espinoza puts the @SJEarthquakes ahead against the Red Bulls. pic.twitter.com/LaD0lQ0PSb — Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 9, 2023
Barlow’s equalizer was unassisted and at 107 minutes was the latest ever scored in a MLS match. He helped the Red Bulls (1-2-4) snap a four-match losing streak to the Earthquakes. San Jose had scored at least three goals in each match — its longest such streak against a single opponent.
The Earthquakes were trying to win four of their first seven matches for the first time since their 2012 Supporters’ Shield-winning season.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.