Win the goal as RSL hosts FC Dallas
Pair of conference foes eye three points in Utah battle
MLSnet.com Staff
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RICE-ECCLES STADIUM, Salt Lake City, Utah
May 10, 2008 | 7 p.m. MT (Ch. 52)
WEEK # 7 | GAME # 45
Two teams both looking to get back into the win column face off on Saturday night in Utah when Real Salt Lake play host to FC Dallas. Real haven't won in three games since gaining their first victory of the season, yet have yet to lose in games on the Wasatch Front. After starting the season unbeaten in their first four games, FC Dallas hasn't scored a goal in their last two, following up their only defeat on the campaign with a scoreless draw on the road last time out.
REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar. SAR (bench): Daniel Belleau; JAR (opposite): Hector Vergara; 4th: Tyler Ploeger
MLS Career: 68 games; FC/gm: 30.5; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 17; pens: 24
INJURY REPORT: REAL SALT LAKE - OUT: MF Nathan Sturgis (L hamstring strain); DOUBTFUL: DF Ian Joy (L ankle bone spur); MF Carey Talley (R quad strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Nik Besagno (R turf toe); PROBABLE: MF Alex Nimo (R quad strain) ... FC DALLAS - OUT: MF David Wagenfuhr (concussion); GK Josh Lambo (jaw); QUESTIONABLE: DF Adrian Serioux (L leg)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (11 meetings): Real Salt Lake 2 wins, 12 goals ... FC Dallas 8 wins, 19 goals ... Ties 1
AT RICE-ECCLES STADIUM (6 meetings): Real Salt Lake 2 wins, 8 goals ... FC Dallas 3 wins, 8 goals ... Ties 1
• This is the first of three meetings on the season between the teams, the first of two to be played at Rice-Eccles Stadium. They will meet again in just two weeks' time, in the lone encounter at Pizza Hut Park (May 24), before concluding the season series in the next-to-last weekend of the season, Oct. 18 in Utah.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/7: RSL 2, DAL 2 (Cunningham 29; 51 - Cooper 19; Ruiz 90)
5/20: DAL 2, RSL 1 (Alvarez 26; C. Gbandi 82 - Adu 68)
6/14: RSL 0, DAL 1 (Oduro 90)
• FC Dallas won the season series a season, winning the final two meetings between the teams, including one at each stadium, after claiming a last-gasp draw in the season opener at Rice-Eccles.
• FC Dallas have won all five home meetings between the teams, outscoring RSL 11-4 in the games played in north Texas.
• RSL's last win in the series came on Sept. 16, 2006, a span now of four games in the series without a victory.
• Coaches record: Jason Kreis vs. LA: P2 W0 L2 D0 ... Steve Morrow v RSL: P3 W2 L0 D1
REAL SALT LAKE
Back home again following another lost road trip, Real Salt Lake jumped to an early lead against the Los Angeles Galaxy but couldn't hold on, their winless streak extended to three games in a 2-2 draw on Saturday evening at Rice-Eccles Stadium. RSL now has five points from six matches, tied with Chivas USA for fourth place in the Western Conference, three points behind the Galaxy and four out of the first-place tie between FC Dallas and Colorado.
LAST MATCH
• Real Salt Lake were returning back home after losing both games on a two-match road swing to the East, while the Galaxy were playing their first road game in more than a month, after winning twice and tying once in a lengthy homestand.
• Buoyed by a heavy victory in a midweek Open Cup play-in against San Jose, RSL took a two-goal within 18 minutes. Javier Morales sent a long ball over the top of the LA defense from the midfield stripe, and Fabian Espindola brought it down with his chest and fired a low shot under Steve Cronin for the sixth-minute opener.
• Then on 18 minutes, Morales swung in a cross from the left flank that found Kenny Deuchar unmarked at the back post, and he coolly headed home for his second MLS goal.
• But David Beckham single-handedly pulled the Galaxy level before the half was out. First, in the 36th minute, he took a short pass well outside the RSL area on the right, and hooked in a masterful shot that sailed over Real 'keeper Nick Rimando and tucked inside the far side netting.
• Then four minutes, the Galaxy won a free kick some 30 yards straight out from goal. Beckham stood over the dead ball on his own, and hooked a trademark strike that sailed over the wall and dipped into the left-hand corner past Rimando's despairing dive.
• RSL head coach Jason Kreis made two changes to the team that lost 4-1 to D.C. United. Tony Beltran came in to the back four and Andy Williams started in the midfield, coming in place of Ian Joy and Nathan Sturgis respectively.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-3-1-2): Nick Rimando - Tony Beltran (Robbie Findley 74), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Chris Wingert - Andy Williams (Matias Cordoba 90), Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Beckerman - Javier Morales - Kenny Deuchar, Fabian Espindola (Yura Movsisyan 79). Substitutes Not Used: Kenny Cutler, Ian Joy, Matias Mantilla, Chris Seitz
TEAM NEWS
• Kreis was pleased with the way his team approached the opening 20 minutes - and how the RSL attack limited the impact of the Galaxy attack. But that all slipped away.
• "I think there was defensive problems because we weren't doing a good enough job -- as we did in the first 20 minutes -- of locking them into their half," Kreis said.
• Still, Kreis felt the first of the two stunning strikes from Beckham could have been avoided. "The play is a non-issue if a defender clears that ball out. He chose to try a pass when it should have been cleared out and it happened to go to David Beckham, who put it away quite nicely," Kreis said.
• RSL did a good job of closing down Landon Donovan for most of the match. The MLS leading scorer did break free for a clear header in the 73rd minute, but Nick Rimando made the save of the match to keep hold of the single point.
• "He was there when we needed him the most and there to make the special saves. I think there were one or two saves in the second half that were really special," Kreis said.
• Javier Morales assisted on both of Real's goals, giving him four on the season and pulling him into a tie with David Beckham for the league lead by the end of the weekend.
• "I feel really good. I was very happy with them, but I would have liked them more if we could have won," Morales said. " ... It's just a statistic. I'm just trying to do my best for the team and trying to get us a win at home."
• Over the final quarter-hour, Kreis went with three in the back to try and snatch the full three points, and all three substitutions he made were bringing on attacking players.
• "When we're at home we're going to go for wins, and when we're away we're going to go for wins," Kreis said. "I think that's going to be the mentality of this team. We've got a group of guys that can handle it and a group that can embrace that aggressive mentality."
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas remained atop the Western Conference, coming off a 10-day layoff and playing to a scoreless draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening. The Hoops now have nine points from six matches, finishing the weekend level with the Colorado Rapids, a point ahead of the Los Angeles Galaxy in the division.
LAST MATCH
• At Buck Shaw Stadium, the facility on the campus of Santa Clara University was playing host to the Earthquakes' first game at their main home; their only other home game on the season was at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland.
• FC Dallas were returning to action after seeing their four-game unbeaten streak to open the campaign put to an end at home by New England. The Earthquakes were coming off a two-game road swing that began with the club's first victory since its return to MLS, before ending with a loss in New York.
• The Earthquakes had also been exposed in a 4-0 loss at Real Salt Lake in midweek in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match, but even with center back Ryan Cochrane injured in that match, San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon had little to do beyond a pair of pedestrian saves. FC Dallas goalkeeper Dario Sala was the busier of the two, credited with one save on the evening.
• FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution 10 days previously. Anthony Wallace came in to the back three for Adrian Serioux, and Andre Rocha moved to the right of midfield and Pablo Richetti into central midfield as Dax McCarty was held out of the first XI.
• Here's Morrow's team (3-4-1-2): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Anthony Wallace - Andre Rocha (Dax McCarty 69), Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa, Blake Wagner - Juan Toja (Aaron Pitchkolan 89) - Arturo Alvarez, Kenny Cooper (Abe Thompson 83). Substitutes Not Used: Ricardinho, Ray Burse, Dominic Oduro, Bobby Rhine
• "It is never a bad result to get a point on the road. We are happy with the performance defensively, the 'keeper was great, but we are a little disappointed that did not do more offensively to create chances," Morrow said. "I think we had a couple of opportunities on the break in the second half where we could have done better. It was not our best night offensively, but we are pleased with clinching the tie."
TEAM NEWS
• While the stat sheet showed FC Dallas had a 3-1 advantage for shots on target, San Jose did hold a 9-8 edge in overall attempts. Still, the Earthquakes had the better chances on the night.
• "I think [San Jose] pressured us hard," said Morrow. "I don't think we moved the ball quickly enough. A lot of our passes were sloppy; a lot of needless giveaways in possession. But you go through that sometimes, and when you do, it's important that you defend well and keep a clean sheet, which we did."
• It was FCD's third clean sheet of the season, a mark the club didn't reach last year until June 30, and they have only conceded one goal in their last four games.
• "Defensively, we're very much concentrated on working as a unit of 11 players," said Drew Moor. "Obviously with three in the back, we've just got to be solid and keep the guys in front of us. It's a little easier, with two holding midfielders, to communicate and move guys in the right spots. But it's just about staying solid, staying aggressive, staying physical, and concentrating for 90 minutes in the back."
• The FCD defenders were also tested by the high-pressure Earthquakes style, as well as a continual aerial bombardment.
• "Everybody was under pressure with the services and crosses into the box, as well as the set plays, corners and free kicks. For the most part I think we dealt with it well and I think that we were first to every corner and cross. Everything they threw at us we dealt with," Morrow said. "If we had concentrated a bit more we could have scored on the break."
• Morrow was forced into a late change when Adrian Serioux failed a pre-game fitness test and Anthony Wallace was given his first start of the season on the left of the back three. Wallace played the full 90 minutes for the first time in his MLS career.
• "I thought he did a very good job. He came into our lineup late and did not know until just before warmups that he was going to start," Morrow said. "He is a young kid with a great future and he proved that tonight. For a young guy he had a very accomplished game."
• Said Wallace: "I actually felt more relaxed during the game (on Saturday). At New England (last year in his MLS debut), I felt more overwhelmed with the task ahead of me and didn't get to play the full 90 then. But this time, I did much better and played the whole game. I think that I have matured a lot (since that game). Of course, there's still room for improvement but the sky is the limit."
• Dax McCarty was kept out of the starting lineup as he battled a sports hernia injury. It could require surgery, but the club is hopeful he will be able to withstand the pain. McCarty came on as a late substitute in San Jose. In place, Andre Rocha moved from a central midfield role to the wide right spot.
• "I think it (him playing on the right) is definitely something he can do for us. He's still finding his feet. I think we've seen glimpses of what he can do. But we know he can do better and expect more from him through the course of the season. That will eventually come as he gets more comfortable in his own game and the league. If we have to move him out right, I think he will give us a lot from that position," Morrow said. "His assists have come from that area of the field. I think he can give us good deliveries from there and good energy up and down the field if we need it. It's a good option for us."
