San Jose Earthquakes shut out by St. Louis City under Ian Russell

ST. LOUIS — The San Jose Earthquakes are the worst team in Major League Soccer, and it’s really not even close.

Facing a St. Louis City team that hadn’t won a game in almost two months and had given up 20 goals in its last nine matches, the visiting Earthquakes were shut out 2-0 on Wednesday, extending their losing streak to seven games.

San Jose’s next game is Sunday at home against Chicago.

Hosei Kijima scored his first goal in MLS, Eduard Löwen also scored a goal for St. Louis, which snapped a nine-game winless skid.

Löwen, on the left side, slipped a shot between a pair of defenders, past the outstretched hand of goalkeeper Will Yarbrough, and into the net to give St. Louis (4-7-10) a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.

Kijima scored on a volley off a set piece to make it 2-0 in the 41st. Indiana Vassilev lofted a perfectly placed free kick over a line of defenders to a charging Kijima for the tap-in finish.

On Monday, St. Louis fired head coach Bradley Carnell and replaced him with technical director John Hackworth on an interim basis.

But in San Jose, a coaching change has done little to reverse the team’s fortunes.

With a 3-14-2 record, the Earthquakes sacked Luchi Gonzalez on June 24. At the time, San Jose was on a seven-match winless streak, and its 51 goals against and negative-22 goal differential were league-worst.

Assistant Ian Russell took over head coaching duties from Gonzalez on an interim basis, but in his first game on June 29, San Jose was hammered 3-0 by the Los Angeles Galaxy.

San Jose (3-16-2) is now winless — with just one tie — in 10 straight, and its 11 points are the fewest in MLS. Kansas City has 17 points and is in 13th place in the Western Conference.