No Werner, no problem: San Jose Eartquakes extend historic start | OneFootball

By Jonathan Sigal

Timo Werner has missed two straight games for the San Jose Earthquakes with a lower-body injury. Surely, that would derail the club's roaring start to the 2026 season?

Not quite.

San Jose cruised to a 3-1 comeback win at Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night, led by a brace from Jack Skahan, a Dave Romney goal and two assists from Niko Tsakiris.

With that result, head coach Bruce Arena's side extended their club-record start to 6W-1L-0D and drew level with first-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC on 18 points in the Western Conference.

"To be in this position at this point in the season is great, but we know it’s a long haul," said Arena. "It’s 34 games. I said last week we could possibly lose our next 28 games. That’s not going to be the case anymore, but it’s going to be a battle.

"It’s great to have a good start and have the 18 points, but we need to get 30-35 more points during the regular season to be a team well-positioned for the playoffs."

Team effort

Now in their second season under Arena, San Jose have taken significant strides despite losing star attackers Cristian Espinoza and Josef Martínez from their 2025 squad. Additionally, Hernán López and Chicho Arango are both on loan to South American teams.

They've also had Werner for just four of their seven games thus far, the German star playing 200 minutes since arriving after Matchday 1.

That's mattered little to Arena's team, which has conceded a league-low two goals and narrowly trails West-leading Vancouver on goal differential (+11 for San Jose, +15 for Vancouver).

“It’s almost a locker-room thing," Skahan said of the hot start.

"The unity of the team – we run for each other. We’re not playing with egos. We pass to the open guy. We attack together. We don’t care who scores.”

Big showdown

San Jose expect a boost, too, with Arena noting postgame that Werner "should be ready this week."

That could leave the former Premier League and Bundesliga star ready for a road showdown with Son Heung-Min and LAFC on April 19 for Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire (7 pm ET | Apple TV).

Long-term, San Jose are chasing their first Audi MLS Cup Playoffs trip since a Wild Card appearance in 2023. They also have room to swing big this summer, with Werner their only active Designated Player.

WATCH: Jack Skahan's first career brace powers surging Quakes