SOCCER: Timo Werner's brace propels San Jose past St. Louis City

Timo Werner's brace late in the second half Saturday night enabled the visiting San Jose Earthquakes to rally for a 3-2 win over St. Louis City SC.

San Jose (9-1-0, 27 points) trailed 2-1 when Werner went to work. After Conrad Wallem was called for a foul in the box, Werner went to the spot and wired his shot into the upper left corner past Roman Burki in the 69th minute.

Fourteen minutes later, Werner supplied the match-winner with Ousseni Bouda providing service to the left side of the box. Werner's right-footed shot found the mark, enabling the Earthquakes to improve to 6-0-0 on the road and maintain MLS' best record.

San Jose overcame an early injury to goalie Earl Edwards Jr., starting his first match of the year, that forced coach Bruce Arena to insert Daniel in the 24th minute. Edwards made two saves and Daniel finished with one.

St. Louis (1-5-3, 6 points) controlled the ball most of the night, compiling a possession rate of 56.4%, and finished with a 17-10 advantage in shots. It converted those numbers into a second-half lead, thanks to Marcel Hartel.

In the 52nd minute, Hartel's slick feed in the box teed up Sergio Cordova for his first goal to level the match. Hartel then put St. Louis ahead 2-1 when Simon Becher collected a turnover and fed him at the top of the box. Hartel's curling shot slithered between Daniel and the right post.

It was precisely that kind of scoring St. Louis has lacked in struggling out of the gate. It came into the fixture with only seven goals. Hartel said on Thursday that finding ways to finish was a focus of the team during training this week.

St. Louis drove play early but the Earthquakes scored first. Striker Preston Judd turned Nick Fernandez's pass into the middle of the box into his team-high sixth goal eight minutes into the match, a margin they carried into halftime.

The result was San Jose's first victory in seven all-time meetings with St. Louis.

-Field Level Media/Reuters