2011 May 28 2011 May 28
Real Salt Lake 1 - 2 Seattle Sounders FC
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT
Goals:
72' SEA: Patrick Ianni (Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua)
84' SEA: Lamar Neagle (Tyson Wahl)
87' SL: Nelson Gonzalez (Luis Gil)
Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Robbie Russell (Nelson Gonzalez 76'); Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Jean Alexandre (Chris Wingert 62'), Will Johnson, Andy Williams (Luis Gil 88'); Fabian Espindola.
Substitutes not used: Kyle Reynish, Chris Schuler, Collen Warner, Arturo Aghasyan.
Seattle: Kasey Keller; James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Tyson Wahl; Brad Evans, Erik Friberg (Roger Levesque 80'), Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 18'); Mike Fucito (Fredy Montero 70'), Nate Jaqua.
Substitutes not used: Terry Boss, Zach Scott, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Mauro Rosales.
Match report from Sounders FC:
Lamar Neagle scored his first-career MLS goal and Patrick Ianni added another, giving Seattle Sounders FC the 2-1 victory over a man-down Real Salt Lake squad Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Seattle (5-4-5, 20 points) recorded their first ever victory in Rio Tinto Stadium.
Real Salt Lake (5-2-2, 17 points) saw their MLS record 29-game home-unbeaten streak come to an end.
Late in second-half stoppage time, Real Salt Lake nearly equalized when the ball was sent into the Seattle box and Nat Borchers almost had an opportunity to put the ball in the net but Kasey Keller dove on the ball as a foul was called on Salt Lake.
After a fairly quiet and scoreless first half, the course of the game changed when Jamison Olave was issued a red card in the 58th minute after pulling down Mike Fucito as he broke toward the goal. Without Olave, Real Salt Lake switched to a 4-4-1 formation.
Neagle's game-winner came in the 84th minute when he controlled the ball at the top corner of the box, then turned and fired a shot that ricocheted off the corner of the crossbar and into the goal.
Salt Lake made it difficult on Seattle, forcing several chances late in the game and scoring in the 87th minute. Their goal came when Nelson Gonzalez cut into the box and knocked a left-footed shot past Keller and inside the far post, pulling RSL within one.
In the 79th minute, Will Johnson received the ball deep in the box off a corner kick and sent his shot directly into Keller's midsection.
Early in the second half, Real Salt Lake came out firing with chances in the 48th and 51st minutes, when Fabian Espindola and Olave were able to create opportunities on goal, both of which were saved by Keller. Keller came away from the game with five saves.
In the 72nd minute, Sounders FC scored the first goal of the game when Tyson Wahl's corner kick found Nate Jaqua, who headed it down to Fredy Montero's feet, who flicked it forward to Ianni, who punched it through for the 1-nil lead. It was Ianni's third goal of his career.
Osvaldo Alonso created several opportunities for Seattle, firing four shots. His closest attempt came in the 70th minute when he made an opening for himself at the top of the box and bent a ball towards the goal but RSL goalkeeper, Nick Rimando, knocked it away for a corner kick.
Rimando finished the game with three saves in a game where chances were fairly equal. Seattle held a shot advantage of 16-13, and both teams had six shots on goal.
Statistics:
SL SEA
Shots: 13 16
Saves: 3 5
Corners: 10 3
Fouls: 7 12
Offsides: 2 2
Misconduct:
28' SL: Johnson cautioned for a reckless foul
58' SL: Olave cautioned for a foul to prevent a goalscoring opportunity
65' SL: Wingert cautioned for a reckless foul
81' SEA: Riley cautioned for wasting time
90' SEA: Wahl cautioned for a reckless foul
Referees: Mark Kadlecik; Rob Fereday, Colin Ablaster; Yader Reyes
Attendance: 14,674
Postmatch Quotes
Seattle Sounders FC
Sigi Schmid - Head Coach
On getting the full three points: "We came in here last time and gave up a goal at the end, and we came close to doing that again. Being able to hold on was good, but we didn't make it easy on ourselves."
On the play of goalkeeper Kasey Keller: "[Kasey Keller] came up huge because they were throwing everything forward and with the rain it was a little bit slippery. They were definitely putting balls in the box and putting pressure on us. We didn't do a good job pushing out sometimes, but Kasey did well."
On the first road win at Rio Tinto Stadium for any MLS club since May 2009: "It is something we're proud of and something we talked about before the game. We wanted to try and be the team that ended the streak, and it was something that was a goal for us as we went into the game."
Lamar Neagle
On scoring his first career MLS goal: "You always remember your first goal. It's definitely nice. I've had a couple of goals in the Reserve League, but nothing like that."
On being able to hold on late: "We always want to go up a couple goals and have that insurance. We've had a couple leads and lost a couple leads so we definitely knew we needed to keep going at it and not just pack it in. I got my chance and I took it."
On getting the tough result: "(The win) ended their streak and hopefully we are at the start of our own streak right now."
Kasey Keller
On hanging on for the full three points: "We did everything we could to try and throw it away, but we didn't, so it was great. A lot of credit, it was nasty conditions. RSL is a very good team and they put us under an extreme amount of pressure in the last 10 minutes."
On bouncing back from Wednesday's home loss to FC Dallas: "We were obviously disappointed after the loss the other day at home, so this is a good way to put that out of our minds. (Rio Tinto Stadium) is a tough place, and they hadn't lost at home in 29 games so it's obviously a very difficult place to play. We're proud to be the ones to break that streak."
On RSL's relentless finish to the match: "Real Salt Lake never quits, and that's a lot of credit to them. They kept coming and they got their goal and almost snuck another one at the end. Like I said, I'm proud of our guys to hold on and keep those three points in difficult conditions."
Real Salt Lake
Jason Kreis - Head Coach
Overall thoughts on the game: "I was real pleased with the way we fought and our aggressive mindset to open up the second half, the way we continued to fight when we were down a man and down two goals. All in all, it's one of those times as a coach that I'm happy with the fight and the spirit and very disappointed with the result."
On the end of RSL's 29-match home undefeated streak: "All good things must come to an end, I guess. I'm not quite sure how to feel about it right now, I've been so focused on all of the small things going on with our team lately. In some strange way I'm pleased with a lot of the play, with the fight of the guys, with the mindset to keep going and never quit."
On the late goal from Nelson González: "When Nelson comes in to the game like that, down a man, as bright as he was and scores a goal – it will be hard to leave him off the lineup next week."
On Jamison Olave's straight red card: "Olave has been doing a much improved job in the disciplinary column for the past year and half now. Last year I thought he had a real strong year, this year he’s been spot on. A different referee tonight and that's a yellow card."
Nat Borchers
On how the game went after the red card to Jamison Olave: "I think we were disappointed to give up that first goal. I think the red card was even more disappointing. I don't think it's a red card personally and I think it's a pretty tough call."
On the positive things that Real Salt Lake can take out of the match: "The positive is that we did come back and we showed fight. We showed that we are not a team that gives up and that's always how we've been, that's how we are going to continue to be the rest of the season."
Ned Grabavoy
On the red card shown to Jamison Olave: "I don't really know what to think about it. It doesn't look like (Mike Fucito) necessarily has the ball under control yet and Borchers was pretty close, enough to make a play or at least try to hold him.:
On whether this is a low point for Real Salt Lake this season: "For sure; it kind of feels like we can't get a bounce to go our way. We keep saying and trying to do the right things and the guys are putting the work in. The effort is good, but it's obviously got to get better at this point."
