Real Salt Lake Down Seattle Sounders, 1-0

Real Salt Lake out-battled Western Conference foe Seattle for a 1-0 win at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night. Real Salt Lake came into this home match needing a win to keep in contention for a playoff spot. Seattle came into this one more solidly positioned for the playoffs, but with have only four home games remaining on the season. 

First Half

The first half saw Seattle committing numbers forward, but failing to connect through the midfield in the first half. Meanwhile Real Salt Lake’s midfield lacked the combination play that they rely on as their midfielders appeared more concerned about their defensive responsibilities and failed to connect on their linking passes. 

However, the initial scoring opportunity went to Seattle in this one. In the sixth minute Freddie Ljungberg collected the ball on the right edge of the box. He cut back a nice pass to Seattle Striker Fredy Montero who drilled a ball from about fifteen yards out, but it was deflected by RSL defender Nat Borchers. 

Real Salt Lake had a near miss in the eleventh minute. Midfielder Will Johnson delivered a beautiful long ball to defender Tony Beltran making a long run along the left side. Beltran’s first touch wasn’t as tight as he had hoped, but he managed to catch the ball before it reached the end-line. His cross went through the goal mouth and just missed the right foot of a sliding Robbie Findley. 

Another chance came in the 43^rd minute as a free-kick from Javi Morales found the head of Borchers who headed the ball down to the feet of a wide open Clint Mathis, but the RSL forward’s stab at the ball knocked it high over the ball.

Second Half

Real Salt Lake came out the aggressor in the second half, and it showed on the pitch and in the result. The team was called for 4 offside infractions in the second half, an indicator of the fact that players were making runs off of the ball. 

The effort nearly paid off early in the half, as Findley had a perfect chance in the 47^th minute but could not convert. After Beckerman dispossessed Seattle of the ball near the center stripe, Javier Morales delivered a lovely, perfectly-weighted diagonal pass to the rushing Findley who got past his marker. He was alone on Keller in front of goal to the left side but his shot goes right to the keeper.

The payoff came in the 62^nd minute. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando distributed the ball with a goal kick to the center of the field to Robbie Findley who used his body to shield the ball from the defender. The ball took two high bounces, and then Findley settled it, and fought off Seattle defender Pete Vagenas before putting on the jets and pushing past him. He broke free into position at the top of the box, and Keller really had no chance as Findley easily knocked it past him and into the net for the goal. It was Findley’s eighth goal of the season, and also his 20^th in an RSL uniform making him the team’s most prolific scorer.

Real Salt Lake would have several chances after that point, but could not convert. The best chance came when newcomer Rachid El Khalifi received a pass from Morales but tried to right-foot the shot from the left side and shanked the attempt.

Seattle made a late push, but could not connect with an equalizer. A header by substitute forward Roger Levesque was perhaps the closest opportunity but it just sailed over the bar.

The match saw the debut of two MLS newcomers, as Seattle’s Leo Gonzalez was given the start at right back in place of James Riley who was serving a red card suspension. For Real Salt Lake, El Khalifi came on as a second half substitute for Mathis.

The outcome takes Real Salt Lake to 26 points on the season with a 7-8-5 record. They face Houston at home next week. The loss keeps Seattle at 29 points with a 7-5-8 record. Up next for them is another road match at the LA Galaxy.

Randy Davis covers Real Salt Lake for Goal.com