Photo by ISIphotos.com
Real Salt Lake was coming off a shutout loss and was 52 minutes into its game against New England without finding the net. Then a goal finally came from defender Jamison Olave.
Then came another. And another. And another.
Real Salt Lake rattled off SIX goals from six different players in 36 minutes on its way to a 6-0 thrashing over a previously unbeaten Revs team that came into the match having given up just three goals in four matches.
Clint Mathis, Yura Movsisyan, Luis Miguel Escalada, Andy Williams and Robbie Findley followed up Olave with goals of their own to help push RSL to 3-2 and 3-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
We'll post highlights on Sunday. For now, feel free to share your thoughts on Real Salt Lake's blowout in the comments section below.
has there not been enough anguish, may the bleeding finally end? one game, we switch to a 3-5-2 and we play like a different team, we revert back to the 4’s and this is what happens. i wish we could build a team around a system instead of throwing a system on a team. new england IS the 3-5-2 and barnes can be our new parkhurst. i fear NE will continue to have dissapointing results until Rally, Shalrie and Red sit together in the midfield once more.
29 freakin shots by RSL!! The MLS highlights were 98%RSL. God damn! Im not saying RSL is the best team in MLS but so far, they play the prettiest and im not just basing it on this game. Fast paced, crisp passing, forwards not afraid to take on defenders…RSL has it. If only San Jose could play that kind of high tempo soccer……………
RSL fan says great game, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. This league is all about parity. That is why they win at home and lose on the road.
Of course a goal is a goal no matter how it goes in the net. And as a fan you hope that your team just puts it in the back of the net. However, if you are just watching a game purely as a fan without allegiance, it is nice to see beautiful soccer and classy goals.
That is my point. It wasn’t just that RSL put up 6 goals in the half but the pure quality of the goals that made the game so much fun to watch, unless you are a Revs fan. So from a coaching standpoint it absolutely doesn’t matter if they are pretty or ugly goals. But from a fans point of view, pretty goals are much more entertaining. The point is that MLS needs to be more entertaining and the type of quality soccer played by RSL in the second half last night provides that.
If not for the utter lack of confidence Movsisyan shows when he gets in on goal (though he did take his goal well) and the great save on the line by Jay Heaps (on what would have been Olave’s second goal) … RSL could have scored 10. RSL had some great chances that just didn’t pan out in the first half.
RSL really has looked good most of the year … when Movsisyan and Finley are both active … this team is great. And Mathis had a great 2-way game tonight.
The Revs are a walking hospital ward, but by the same token their failure to invest in depth and rely on guys who are getting older (Ralston) and/or have a history of being a bit brittle (Twellman and Albright) makes this a bit less surprising.
I felt a bit bad for Knighton, as he started off doing a great job and by the end of the game … his efforts to compensate for a vastly over-matched defense led to some bad judgment. This is the type of game that can really affect a young keeper, and Knighton has been great so far this year.
The decision by Heaps on that last goal was shocking. Barnes made some great plays, but he also got beat like a drum a few times. Even Lauro and Joseph were not good on the set-piece marking.
New England are going to struggle a bunch if they don’t get some more incisive attackers than Mansally, Dube and Nyassi. They simply cannot hold onto possession.
The best part of the game for me was the reaction of the whole RSL team to Andy Williams’ goal. He was visibly moved, and the bench all came to celebrate with him. it has been a pretty tough go for the Williams family, and as the last of the 2005 original RSL players, he has a special place in the hearts of many there.
Huge RSL fan and I loved the match last night but I have no illusion that we are the class of the MLS. Wait till we win a few on the road (something we just can’t seem to do) and then maybe we can make a few claims but right now we are a great home team and a poor road team meaning we are just average. I hope Kries can figure something out to help us on the road.
The games have been really exciting bar a few this year,I think its going to be real hard for Columbus to repeat but trying to pick whose going to win the supporters shield or even MLS cup is, too tough to call right now!!
RSL has certainly been a problem for DC United in recent memory…
When most teams from the East have traveled to Salt Lake they have been mauled, not because RSL is the better team but due to the combo of travel and altitude. The only way a visiting team can offset this home field advantage is to control the ball and slow down the game (like RB did last year in the playoffs). Last night the Rev midfield without Ralston and Forwards that could hold up the ball were unable to keep possession and that lead to them running out of gas and a blood bath. RSL is tough at home but they are not the class of MLS when on the road.
I’ve been of the opinion for a while that RSL simply has been playing soccer the right way. On a good night, they more than get paid for that commitment.
I don’t know if i’d put them at the top of MLS because they are a little enigmatic, but top 5 for sure. Probably top 3.
Breakers lost 4-0, completing the New England soccer butt-kicking contest that was last night.
RSL was the better team out there. The Revs played okay- the defense was very shaky- until the third goal went in. Then they just gave up. That’s probably the most goals scored in one half of a MLS game… can anybody dispute that?
I also had a dream Steve Nichol got sacked for it… I was calling for his head at the end of last season. If something like this happens again in the next couple games, I’ll be at it again.
Even though it was 0-0 at halftime, it easily could have been 3-0 or more in RSL’s favor as they just could not get the ball in the back of the net the first half. It was a dominating performance and Beckerman outplayed Joseph on this night. Mathis’ play was brilliant. Even taking his goal away (goal of the year candidate) he was everywhere, defensively and offensively with beautiful passes.
I appreciate good soccer, especially in the MLS, as much as any other US citizen, but to say Real Salt Lake is the best team in the MLS after one thrashing is a bit extreme. They were just shut out by the second worst team in the East.
Plus I love riling up people on this board 😉
No, DC Josh is wrong. Hyperbole is the relief of MLS fans finally getting to see good, high-quality play. Snotty comments about them playing in the World Cup doesn’t take away from the fact that after a lot of bad soccer there was a really gorgeous display of skill by RSL last night. Of course RSL was at the top of their game and New England’s defense was a bit asleep at times but let’s celebrate some entertaining, breakthrough play that DIDN’T come from a field in Europe or Latin America. Lord knows there’s enough to complain about with MLS most other weeks.
The Revs looked like a pub squad last night…and RSL is great at home but still suck on the road! That goal by Mathis was a goalazzo!
I agree with much of what everyone is saying, but Josh is a little right too, some of this is hyperbole.
Beckerman certainly outplayed Joseph, but how much of that was credited to teammates?
Mathis’ volley was a thing of beauty, even more so the hard, low driven corner to the far post Morales put in to give him the opportunity for the shot, excellent execution all around.
My personal favorite part of the night? Real fans chanting “Ole” with each connected pass in the late stages, when NE kinda looked like maybe they’d given up.
“Trash goals” count the same as any other goals, and part of being an elite player is putting one self in a position to score ugly ones. At the end of the day, I’ll take a forward that can score 20 ugly goals a season over one that can score 10 beautiful ones.
This being said, the goals RSL scored were nice, and I get the point on that end, but a goal is a goal. I don’t think that’s normally a talking point for a coach. “Guys, good result. Next time, however, can you try to score some pretty goals…because some of those goals were really hideous.”
DC Josh is an imbecile!
He has yet to make a worthwhile post on this board!
(I enjoyed the game)
There will not be a better goal in MLS this year than Cleetus’ volley. Brilliant!
Real Salt Lake to the premier league!
They are the best team in the world!
Eat your heart out Manchester United!
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, note to self: Clint Mathis is better than you both combined!
Real Salt Lake should play in the World Cup!
RSL just played at a different speed than New England. Though New England’s back line has been exposed RSL put on one of the best offensive displays the MLS has seen in years. They actually looked like an EPL team last night. This was a GREAT game for the league as a whole because the play from most MLS games so far this year has been slow, choppy, sloppy with endless poor finishing, passing (NYRB vs. Houston was downright unwatchable), and little to no creativity. Games like this, even if they are routs, will help bring back fans and grow the league more readily and consistently than any Beckham/Henry/Ronaldo signings. Beautiful team play and RSL fans should be rightfully proud.
Real was impressive in preseason–played a tough schedule and looked good in every match. It’s no surprise they’re doing well.
I originally projected the East to be much better than the West this year. That was assuming LAG and SJ were bad (they pretty much are), that Seattle wouldn’t be a playoff contender (but they are), that Columbus would be better than they are (I still though they might not make the playoffs but I forecast a fast start for them) and that RBNY wouldn’t have started so poorly (didn’t see them as a strong team, just not a team near the bottom of the East). So my projections of E-W balance were off. Real tilts that a lot. At varying points this season, you could make a reasonable argument that “at that time” the best teams in the league were 3 western teams: Chivas, Seattle and RSL in terms of how they were playing at the moment.
As for NE….it’s a bit surprising to see any Nicol team go down 6 goals. NE isn’t as good as they’ve looked (in part because of all the missing pieces). But they’re very well coached, Joseph is an amazing player to build a team around–he raises everyone’s game. And they benefit from not having to play 50+ games this year.
Great game to watch. Not only was there a lot of action and, as an RSL fan, a good result, but the goals were beautiful. No sloppy goals in this game. If you are a fan of soccer you have to watch the second half of this game as RSL truly put on an offensive clinic.
Mathis and Bamma both had spectacular goals and the service from the RSL playmakers like Morales, Mathis and Williams was equally good. Man that was a fun game to watch.
It was Real, and it was spectacular! And not a “trash” goal in the bunch, too… all six were pure class plays/finishes.
I’ve known that RSL is the best team in the league for a while. Cat is out of the bag now. Everyone else in the league ought to take note of tonight. Visitors will wish they had never set foot in Rio Tinto. Defending Champs…. killed them 4-1. One of two unbeaten teams left…. 6-0 without even breaking a sweat.. Could have just as easily been 10-0.
Joseph was alone out there tonight, and so were the rest of the Revs. Beckerman and Co. had the entire Revs team confused at what in the world they were doing. The Revs midfield and defense didn’t know where they were for the entire second half. The Revs stayed organized in the defensive third for a bit in the first half. But as soon as Olave’s goal went in, and Clint Mathis scores the goal of the year, it was ever man for himself for the Revs. I’ve never seen a team so frazzled and disorganized and frustrated before. If there were a stat for the most thorough beat-down laid on a team, RSL would have taken that stat home tonight.
Looked like a freakin hockey game. haha.
Mathis goal was wayyyyyyyy nice
Everynow and then he shows something that will remind you how good he was in 2002
Shalrie had a decent effort, but Beckerman/RSL put on a clinic. Great game to watch from our Northwest seats @ Rio Tinto in the second half, perfect view of all SIX!!
A beautiful game, no doubt. The shots seemed non-stop (29). Incredible.
And I thought Beckerman had a great game. He definitely outplayed Joseph IMO. He has incredible vision and just knows where to play the ball.
Clint’s goal was a GOTY candidate. Boy, can he hit a volley. With his left foot, no less.
Secondly, it would appear that Beckerman dominated the battle with Joseph. I didn’t watch the match, and clearly Joseph’s support was a bit inexperienced, but I’m curious as to what people who saw the match thought of Beckerman’s performance.
Any update on Andy Williams’ wife?
How about the 29 shots RSL took? This was a fun game to be at. However, this victory was against a depleted and young Revs team that kept attacking. Now it’s time to exorcize those road demons.