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Real Salt Lake and Chicago Fire Battle To 1-1 Draw
Second half rally sees RSL cough up equalizer.
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Sep 13, 2009 7:02:14 AM
SANDY, Utah--Real Salt Lake and the Chicago Fire played to a 1-1 draw at Rio Tinto Stadium. The result was disappointing to the home side as they are chasing a playoff spot, while the visiting Fire sit more comfortabley in playoff position near the top of the Eastern Conference.
Real Salt Lake was missing key faces from the starting lineup: Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, and Yura Movsisyan. The Chicago Fire were missing their sparkplug, Cuahtemoc Blanco, while welcoming Brian McBride back to the lineup. Chicago hardly noticed the deficiency, while Real Salt Lake played like they were just getting to know each other in the first half.
First Half
Real Salt Lake nearly opened the scoring right after the opening whistle. As fans were still finding their seats, target forward Pablo Campos got open and ahead of the defense on the right side of the penalty area. His shot was a low angle one that found its way into the chest of Fire 'keeper Jon Busch before bounding out of bounds for a corner kick.
Real Salt Lake’s lineup took another blow at around the 10th minute, as veteran midfielder Clint Mathis rolled his ankle, and despite trying to tape it up he couldn’t continue, which left rookie Jean Alexandre to try to fill the void.
Chicago seemed to handle the midfield for much of the first half, as Real Salt Lake struggled to string passes together. The Fire’s possession in the midfield helped them spring into their offense on numerous occasions in the half.
One dangerous opportunity came at the 20th minute when midfielder Justin Mapp delivered a quality ball into the box, but Real Salt Lake defender Jamison Olave and Chicago midfielder Peter Lowry met the ball at exactly the same time, with Lowry getting the worst of it.
Four minutes later Mike Banner delivered a line drive free kick from just outside the box on the right side. The shot connected with McBride, but had such pace that he couldn’t do much with it and it went wide of the net.
Real Salt Lake generated precious few dangerous opportunities in the first half, but a quality one came in the 28th minute. Midfielder Will Johnson played a ball into space on the left side that forward Fabian Espindola was able to chase down. He delivered a ball into the box with his left foot as Campos came rushing into the box, but Campos slightly overran the play and was only able to get the top of his head on the ball, making it sail well over the bar.
Chicago made Real Salt Lake pay for their midfield woes at the 43rd minute, as midfielder Marco Pappa delivered a perfect ball to the penalty spot. There, forward Chris Rolfe brought the ball down neatly between two RSL defenders. He turned and easily hit the rock past a helpless Nick Rimando in net. There was a question of a handball on the play, but referee Alex Prus awarded the goal.
Second Half
Real Salt Lake came out more aggressively in the second half, inserting forward Yura Movsisyan into the lineup after the powerful striker had missed play for several weeks with an injury. The energy of Movsisyan gave the team a lift, but they still struggled early in the midfield.
Early in the half, Pappa found himself open on the left after great buildup by the Fire. Lowry laid off the square ball to Pappa, catching him in stride. His blast from the top of the area was knocked down by Rimando, who then managed to scramble and pounce on the ball before it went past the endline.
In the 50th minute, Espindola reached the ball at the endline and knocked it into the area. Movsisyan made a lovely pirouette on the ball and then a fake before putting a left footed shot wide of the net.
In the 62nd minute, Real Salt Lake introduced midfielder Javier Morales, who is playing with a nagging ankle sprain. The tone of the play seemed to pick up immediately and the quality in the midfield morphed from a weakness on the night into a strength.
Just ten minutes later, the improved midfield quality would pay off as Rimando made a long outlet pass to a wide open Andy Williams at the midfield stripe. The veteran midfielder turned, got his head up and picked out defender Jamison Olave in stride, who was able to sweep the ball toward the net and it easily beat Busch.
From that point on, the match seemed much more intense. It felt as if Real Salt Lake came awake, realizing that their season could be on the line, and Chicago appeared willing to use that anxiousness against them with well-timed counter-attacks.
In the 84th minute, Findley delivered a ball into the box that found the head of Espindola. Unfortunately, Espindola’s header had no pace on it and was easily captured by Busch.
Chicago nearly pulled the two points back in the 89th minute with some great combination play. Lowry received a nice backheel pass from second half substitute Calen Carr. His shot was saved by a diving Rimando, who coughed up the rebound but kept it out of the net.
Real Salt Lake managed a couple of final quality chances in stoppage time. First, Movsisyan found some space at the arc outside of the box. He hit a solid blast with his left foot that beat Busch, but was saved by the post. Then, just a couple of minutes later, Olave put his head to a Javier Morales corner. The shot had a lot of snap to it, but it was right at the well-positioned Busch. The final whistle blew shortly after, ending any chances for a full three-point result for either side.
The draw takes Chicago to 39 points with a 10-6-9 record, temporarily tying them with Columbus who plays a Sunday match against Chivas. The Fire host the Crew next week for a battle at the top of the Eastern Conference. Real Salt Lake moves to 34 points on the season with a 9-9-7 record. They next play on the road at Houston.
Randy Davis is the Salt Lake correspondent for Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
Real Salt Lake was missing key faces from the starting lineup: Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales, and Yura Movsisyan. The Chicago Fire were missing their sparkplug, Cuahtemoc Blanco, while welcoming Brian McBride back to the lineup. Chicago hardly noticed the deficiency, while Real Salt Lake played like they were just getting to know each other in the first half.
First Half
Real Salt Lake nearly opened the scoring right after the opening whistle. As fans were still finding their seats, target forward Pablo Campos got open and ahead of the defense on the right side of the penalty area. His shot was a low angle one that found its way into the chest of Fire 'keeper Jon Busch before bounding out of bounds for a corner kick.
Real Salt Lake’s lineup took another blow at around the 10th minute, as veteran midfielder Clint Mathis rolled his ankle, and despite trying to tape it up he couldn’t continue, which left rookie Jean Alexandre to try to fill the void.
Chicago seemed to handle the midfield for much of the first half, as Real Salt Lake struggled to string passes together. The Fire’s possession in the midfield helped them spring into their offense on numerous occasions in the half.
One dangerous opportunity came at the 20th minute when midfielder Justin Mapp delivered a quality ball into the box, but Real Salt Lake defender Jamison Olave and Chicago midfielder Peter Lowry met the ball at exactly the same time, with Lowry getting the worst of it.
Four minutes later Mike Banner delivered a line drive free kick from just outside the box on the right side. The shot connected with McBride, but had such pace that he couldn’t do much with it and it went wide of the net.
Real Salt Lake generated precious few dangerous opportunities in the first half, but a quality one came in the 28th minute. Midfielder Will Johnson played a ball into space on the left side that forward Fabian Espindola was able to chase down. He delivered a ball into the box with his left foot as Campos came rushing into the box, but Campos slightly overran the play and was only able to get the top of his head on the ball, making it sail well over the bar.
Chicago made Real Salt Lake pay for their midfield woes at the 43rd minute, as midfielder Marco Pappa delivered a perfect ball to the penalty spot. There, forward Chris Rolfe brought the ball down neatly between two RSL defenders. He turned and easily hit the rock past a helpless Nick Rimando in net. There was a question of a handball on the play, but referee Alex Prus awarded the goal.
Second Half
Real Salt Lake came out more aggressively in the second half, inserting forward Yura Movsisyan into the lineup after the powerful striker had missed play for several weeks with an injury. The energy of Movsisyan gave the team a lift, but they still struggled early in the midfield.
Early in the half, Pappa found himself open on the left after great buildup by the Fire. Lowry laid off the square ball to Pappa, catching him in stride. His blast from the top of the area was knocked down by Rimando, who then managed to scramble and pounce on the ball before it went past the endline.
In the 50th minute, Espindola reached the ball at the endline and knocked it into the area. Movsisyan made a lovely pirouette on the ball and then a fake before putting a left footed shot wide of the net.
In the 62nd minute, Real Salt Lake introduced midfielder Javier Morales, who is playing with a nagging ankle sprain. The tone of the play seemed to pick up immediately and the quality in the midfield morphed from a weakness on the night into a strength.
Just ten minutes later, the improved midfield quality would pay off as Rimando made a long outlet pass to a wide open Andy Williams at the midfield stripe. The veteran midfielder turned, got his head up and picked out defender Jamison Olave in stride, who was able to sweep the ball toward the net and it easily beat Busch.
From that point on, the match seemed much more intense. It felt as if Real Salt Lake came awake, realizing that their season could be on the line, and Chicago appeared willing to use that anxiousness against them with well-timed counter-attacks.
In the 84th minute, Findley delivered a ball into the box that found the head of Espindola. Unfortunately, Espindola’s header had no pace on it and was easily captured by Busch.
Chicago nearly pulled the two points back in the 89th minute with some great combination play. Lowry received a nice backheel pass from second half substitute Calen Carr. His shot was saved by a diving Rimando, who coughed up the rebound but kept it out of the net.
Real Salt Lake managed a couple of final quality chances in stoppage time. First, Movsisyan found some space at the arc outside of the box. He hit a solid blast with his left foot that beat Busch, but was saved by the post. Then, just a couple of minutes later, Olave put his head to a Javier Morales corner. The shot had a lot of snap to it, but it was right at the well-positioned Busch. The final whistle blew shortly after, ending any chances for a full three-point result for either side.
The draw takes Chicago to 39 points with a 10-6-9 record, temporarily tying them with Columbus who plays a Sunday match against Chivas. The Fire host the Crew next week for a battle at the top of the Eastern Conference. Real Salt Lake moves to 34 points on the season with a 9-9-7 record. They next play on the road at Houston.
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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| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
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