In a match that didn't see much separating the two sides, a pair of bad defensive blunder ultimately paved the way for Real Salt Lake to rebound well from their most embarrassing loss of the season.
Fabian Espindola intercepted a bad back-pass from Marvell Wynne to help set up an Alvaro Saborio tap-in on the way to a 2-0 RSL victory against the Colorado Rapids at Rio Tinto on Saturday night.
Midfielder Will Johnson added an insurance goal in the 90th minute when Saborio stripped Rapids defender Tyrone Marshall and set him up for a beautiful finish on a goal to put the match out of reach and helped RSL pull three points closer to first-place San Jose.
Colorado's fifth straight loss came by virtue of a non-existence attack that failed to muster a single shot on goal against an RSL defense that was playing without suspended defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman. The centerback tandem of Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers made life miserable for a Rapids attacking missing both Omar Cummings and Conor Casey from the starting lineup (Cummings played the second half).
The loss, coupled with the LA Galaxy's victory against Chivas USA, dropped the Rapids eight points off the playoff pace with a game in hand. The win, which came a week after RSL's 5-0 loss to the Earthquakes, pulls Real Salt Lake to within four points of San Jose (which plays Vancouver tonight).
Here are the match highlights:
What did you think of the match? See RSL rebounding and pushing San Jose for first place again? Think the Rapids can halt their current slide and get back into the playoff race.
Share your thoughts below.
Agreed on all counts.
Almost any team could have beat the Crapids last night. They were missing their most talented players and subbed in two other most talent players. Coaching technique was a bit questionable on the starting 11. As an RSL fan I will take the two points without Beckerman. Those are hard points to come by. It was a good team effort.