Real Salt Lake Deep-Six New England Revolution

SANDY, Utah, April 25--It was a historic night at Rio Tinto Stadium as Real Salt Lake notched six goals in the second half to beat a depleted New England Revolution side by a score of 6-0.  That was only the third time in league history that a team scored six goals in a half. In addition, the 29 shots by Real Salt Lake shattered the previous team record of 24.

New England came into the match missing key players such as Steve Ralston, Chris Albright and Taylor Twellman. Those are three all-star level players. The effect of missing those players showed early on in the match as RSL dominated possession right from the start and never let up. 

First Half

However, the storyline in the first half was one that was all too familiar for RSL as it dominated play and the shot totals but was unable to put one in the net. The half was particularly frustrating for forward Yura Movsisyan, who managed to find the ball at his feet in and near the box often but couldn’t put it past the keeper. 

Movsisyan’s best chance came in the 37^th minute when midfielder Javier Morales sent a ball nicely over the top to him and he managed to get ahead of the defender. As he entered the area free on the right side of the box, he appeared to try to shoot from 15 yards through the legs of the 'keeper who easily corralled the shot. 

The Rev's best chance of the half came a minute later when it got numbers forward on a counter attack and funneled the ball to midfielder Sainey Nyassi, who took a blast from just inside the area, but the shot went right to 'keeper Nick Rimando who easily handled the shot. 

The end of the half was ragged as both teams suffered some hard fouls.  Just before the end of the half a scuffle ensued with several players from each side involved. Both Movsisyan and New England defender Jay Heaps received yellow card cautions as a result of the fracas. The yellows were in addition to three others handed out in the half.

Second Half

The second half started out in similar fashion, with Real Salt Lake again dominating possession. In the first 10 minutes of the half, RSL created several chances but was not able to put one into the back of the net until the 54^th minute. A corner kick by Morales was headed home nicely by Jamison Olave, who easily drove the ball past reserve New England 'keeper Brad Knighton.

Just two minutes later, another corner kick resulted in a spectacular goal by midfielder Clint Mathis. The corner was a low, driven ball to the back post where Mathis was completely unmarked. Mathis measured the ball as it came to him, and took a one-time blast with his left foot, redirecting the ball in mid-air to the upper left corner of the net, away from a helpless Knighton. 

The stellar play of Mathis continued as he played a wonderful diagonal ball to Movsisyan who was held just onside on the play. Movisyan easily slotted the ball to his left past Knighton for his first goal of the season. 

RSL made several substitutions over the next seven minutes as Ned Grabavoy, Luis Escalada and Andy Williams came in for Morales, Mathis and Movsisyan. Those three players would all affect the score sheet in the final ten minutes of play. 

The first goal after the changes came at the 81^st minute as Grabavoy slid a ball forward to Escalada, who crossed in front of him to the right side of the goal. Escalada’s first shot of the game resulted in his first goal in Major League Soccer as he placed the ball nicely just inside the far post.

Next came a nice ball from Williams who lived up to his reputation as “Bomma” with a free kick rocket from 25 yards that appeared to catch Knighton off guard as it soared past him at the near post.

The final goal of the night was created by a long diagonal pass from Williams, who spotted forward Robbie Findley streaking down the left side. Findley outran the defender and found himself one-on-one with the keeper and calmly tapped it past him to the left. 

New England came into this match undefeated in four matches. The club remains at 8 points after 2 wins, 2 draws, and now 1 loss. The Revs face Houston next Sunday, playing at home for only the second time this season. 

Real Salt Lake improved to 9 points with 3 wins and 2 losses on the season. It plays at Colorado next Saturday after a U.S. Open Cup match at Seattle on Tuesday.

Randy Davis covers Real Salt Lake for Goal.com