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Real Salt Lake with Surprising Road Win in Kansas City
RSL holds off KC despite being a man down.
Aug 30, 2009 12:22:23 AM
Real Salt Lake grabbed a victory on the road against the Kansas City Wizards, as the floundering home team was unable to capitalize on a man advantage. Both coaches came in facing a lot of pressure. Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis has seen his side perform miserably on the road and needed the victory to stay reasonably in the playoff hunt. Coach Peter Vermees was the team’s general manager a few weeks ago but made the decision to clean house as he determined that the coaching staff wasn’t getting the job done. Kansas City has been in a free fall and has seen their playoff hopes erode with each passing week.
For his part, coach Kreis shook things up with a surprise lineup, most notably starting young 'keeper Chris Seitz ahead of the veteran Nick Rimando. Vermees came in a bit handicapped without veteran striker Josh Wolff who was sitting out with an injury. Wolff had lit up Real Salt Lake with two goals earlier in the season.
First Half
Both teams appeared cautious of making mistakes early on, making blind clearances and playing hopeful long balls forward for the first fifteen minutes.
Real Salt Lake changed that at the quarter hour mark as defender Chris Wingert delivered a ball into the area, where the target forward Pablo Campos knocked it down to the feet of midfielder Andy Williams. Williams turned and took a shot just as he squared his body but Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman was right in front of the play and took the blast directly in the chest.
A minute later the visitors had another spectacular chance. Midfielder Ned Grabavoy made a late run up the middle, and received a ball from teammate Kyle Beckerman. He sidestepped Hartman, who was off his line, but was off-balance as he took the shot, and his lackluster attempt was easily thwarted by the Kansas City defense.
In the 18th minute, Real Salt Lake made the breakthrough. It started with nice combination play up the right side of the field. Midfielder Clint Mathis made a pass to defender Robbie Russell who had pushed forward. He slid the ball to his left to Williams who fed Campos perfectly into the area. The Brazilian easily slid a shot past Hartman, who was defenseless in the net.
Although Real Salt Lake started off with three good chances it was Kansas City that had the bulk of the shots in the half. KC outshot RSL 9-4, but only held a 4-3 margin in shots on target.
One of the better chances came in the 22nd minute when Argentine Claudio Lopez drove a line-drive cross through the box. Unfortunately, Jack Jewsbury had started to attempt a scissor kick. When he saw that the ball was coming low and fast, he tried to reverse his momentum and get his head on it, but was unable to do so.
In the 32nd minute, Lopez broke free on the right as both defenders on that side were caught out of position. Wingert came across just as Lopez set up inside the area and put pressure on the shot which was nudged wide of the goal by Seitz.
The opportunity was representative of Kansas City’s night as it couldn't capitalize on solid opportunities.
However, just before the break a play happened that changed the trajectory of the match. In the 42nd minute, Grabavoy made a strong slide tackle on Herculez Gomez. The referee signaled advantage, and the ball was played to Lopez in the left corner. Lopez delivered a great cross in to a wide open Jewsbury, who plunked a header over the bar. The Real Salt Lake defense breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was short-lived as the referee showed a straight red car to Grabavoy for the earlier tackle.
Second Half
Not surprisingly, Real Salt Lake came out defensive-minded in the second half. The visitors absorbed the Kansas City pressure, giving up numerous crosses and corner kicks.
In the 54th minute, Kansas City nearly put in the equalizer. Jewsbury had the ball on the right side and laid off a ball to Gomez who took a blast directly at Seitz, but the RSL 'keeper wisely punched the ball away.
Just four minutes later, a similar play occurred, as Kansas City forced a Salt Lake turnover. Substitute forward Zoltan made a nice move with the ball. The one-named Hungarian cut the ball back to an unmarked Gomez, but his left-footed, off-balance attempt sailed wide. Had he left the ball for Lopez who was trailing him on the play, the result may have been different.
It seemed that from that point, frustration set in for the Kansas City players. They continued to put balls into the box and earned corner kicks, but their confidence seemed lacking. They would finish with 11 corner attempts, and 21 cross attempts, but failed to score.
In the 86th minute, it looked like they had a good opportunity as two RSL defenders, Russell and Jamison Olave, collided with each other. Since the trainer was called onto the pitch, both players had to sit out briefly, meaning Kansas City had a three man advantage. Unfortunately, the opportunity was squandered and Real Salt Lake regrouped.
Kansas City had two great chances in stoppage time. First, a blast by Zoltan that Seitz made a diving save to his left to stop, and then a scrum in front of the goal off of a corner kick that was eventually cleared by RSL to preserve the win.
The victory gives Real Salt Lake 33 points for the season with a 9-9-6 record. The win also puts them solidly in the playoff race, sitting just one point behind Seattle for fourth place in the Western conference. The Lakers next host Chicago two weeks from now, and will miss holding midfielders Beckerman and Grabavoy in that match due to yellow card accumulation.
The loss leaves Kansas City at 21 points, with a 5-10-6 record. The team remains in second to last in the Eastern Conference, and is currently out of the playoff picture. It next plays at New England a week from today.
Randy Davis is the Salt Lake correspondent for Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
For his part, coach Kreis shook things up with a surprise lineup, most notably starting young 'keeper Chris Seitz ahead of the veteran Nick Rimando. Vermees came in a bit handicapped without veteran striker Josh Wolff who was sitting out with an injury. Wolff had lit up Real Salt Lake with two goals earlier in the season.
First Half
Both teams appeared cautious of making mistakes early on, making blind clearances and playing hopeful long balls forward for the first fifteen minutes.
Real Salt Lake changed that at the quarter hour mark as defender Chris Wingert delivered a ball into the area, where the target forward Pablo Campos knocked it down to the feet of midfielder Andy Williams. Williams turned and took a shot just as he squared his body but Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman was right in front of the play and took the blast directly in the chest.
A minute later the visitors had another spectacular chance. Midfielder Ned Grabavoy made a late run up the middle, and received a ball from teammate Kyle Beckerman. He sidestepped Hartman, who was off his line, but was off-balance as he took the shot, and his lackluster attempt was easily thwarted by the Kansas City defense.
In the 18th minute, Real Salt Lake made the breakthrough. It started with nice combination play up the right side of the field. Midfielder Clint Mathis made a pass to defender Robbie Russell who had pushed forward. He slid the ball to his left to Williams who fed Campos perfectly into the area. The Brazilian easily slid a shot past Hartman, who was defenseless in the net.
Although Real Salt Lake started off with three good chances it was Kansas City that had the bulk of the shots in the half. KC outshot RSL 9-4, but only held a 4-3 margin in shots on target.
One of the better chances came in the 22nd minute when Argentine Claudio Lopez drove a line-drive cross through the box. Unfortunately, Jack Jewsbury had started to attempt a scissor kick. When he saw that the ball was coming low and fast, he tried to reverse his momentum and get his head on it, but was unable to do so.
In the 32nd minute, Lopez broke free on the right as both defenders on that side were caught out of position. Wingert came across just as Lopez set up inside the area and put pressure on the shot which was nudged wide of the goal by Seitz.
The opportunity was representative of Kansas City’s night as it couldn't capitalize on solid opportunities.
However, just before the break a play happened that changed the trajectory of the match. In the 42nd minute, Grabavoy made a strong slide tackle on Herculez Gomez. The referee signaled advantage, and the ball was played to Lopez in the left corner. Lopez delivered a great cross in to a wide open Jewsbury, who plunked a header over the bar. The Real Salt Lake defense breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was short-lived as the referee showed a straight red car to Grabavoy for the earlier tackle.
Second Half
Not surprisingly, Real Salt Lake came out defensive-minded in the second half. The visitors absorbed the Kansas City pressure, giving up numerous crosses and corner kicks.
In the 54th minute, Kansas City nearly put in the equalizer. Jewsbury had the ball on the right side and laid off a ball to Gomez who took a blast directly at Seitz, but the RSL 'keeper wisely punched the ball away.
Just four minutes later, a similar play occurred, as Kansas City forced a Salt Lake turnover. Substitute forward Zoltan made a nice move with the ball. The one-named Hungarian cut the ball back to an unmarked Gomez, but his left-footed, off-balance attempt sailed wide. Had he left the ball for Lopez who was trailing him on the play, the result may have been different.
It seemed that from that point, frustration set in for the Kansas City players. They continued to put balls into the box and earned corner kicks, but their confidence seemed lacking. They would finish with 11 corner attempts, and 21 cross attempts, but failed to score.
In the 86th minute, it looked like they had a good opportunity as two RSL defenders, Russell and Jamison Olave, collided with each other. Since the trainer was called onto the pitch, both players had to sit out briefly, meaning Kansas City had a three man advantage. Unfortunately, the opportunity was squandered and Real Salt Lake regrouped.
Kansas City had two great chances in stoppage time. First, a blast by Zoltan that Seitz made a diving save to his left to stop, and then a scrum in front of the goal off of a corner kick that was eventually cleared by RSL to preserve the win.
The victory gives Real Salt Lake 33 points for the season with a 9-9-6 record. The win also puts them solidly in the playoff race, sitting just one point behind Seattle for fourth place in the Western conference. The Lakers next host Chicago two weeks from now, and will miss holding midfielders Beckerman and Grabavoy in that match due to yellow card accumulation.
The loss leaves Kansas City at 21 points, with a 5-10-6 record. The team remains in second to last in the Eastern Conference, and is currently out of the playoff picture. It next plays at New England a week from today.
Randy Davis is the Salt Lake correspondent for Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
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