Taking on the Revs
We’re up on the hill for our second match of the week. Tonight it’s the league leading New England Revolution invading the Rice-Eccles pitch. On a four match unbeaten streak, 276 minute shutout streak, and undefeated 3-0-4 home record, RSL hopes to find their home form again and notch a huge three points. Kickoff is a bit later today (7:30 p.m. MT) so we’re still a little ways away, but we do have the starting lineups in front of us. The only change to the Real lineup from Wednesday’s draw with San Jose is the return of midfielder Andy Williams in place of Matias Cordoba. Other than that we see an unchanged starting XI for the third straight affair. Check ‘em out…
Real Salt Lake: GK - Nick Rimando; DF - Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Tony Beltran; MF - Kyle Beckerman, Dema Kovalenko, Javier Morales, Andy Williams; FW - Kenny Deuchar, Robbie Findley
Bench: Kyle Reynish, Matias Mantilla, Matias Cordoba, Alex Nimo, Kenny Cutler, Tino Nunez, Ian Joy
New England Revolution: GK - Matt Reis; DF - Chris Albright, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Amaechi Igwe; MF - Steve Ralston, Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan, Sainey Nyassi; FW - Kheli Dube, Adam Cristman
Bench: Brad Knighton, Sam Brill, Argenis Fernandez, Chase Hilgenbrinck, Brandon Manzonelli, Wells Thompson, Chris Tierney
Take the jump to see all of the action…
11th minute: We can’t even keep up with the action. We’ve already seen two goals in the opening few minutes. An 8th minute strike from Revolution striker Adam Cristman, after a serious miscommunication on the RSL backline, saw the visitors with a 1-0 lead. Only a couple minutes later, however, RSL struck back when a beautiful free kick into the center of the New England box saw the ball glance off defender Jay Heaps for an own goal equalizer. Wow!
30th minute: Quite the back and forth affair up here on the hill. Kenny Deuchar’s been causing fits for the Revs’ backline. He’s already hit the post once and had another couple dangerous chances. New England has shown why they’re top of the table though, as they’ve been very dangerous themselves. This one is exciting folks.
41st minute: Jason Kreis is forced to make his first change of the match as Robbie Findley is forced to the bench after knocking heads with a Revolution defender. The speedy forward was replaced by rookie Tino Nunez.
Halftime: Things settled down a bit in the last 15 minutes but this one’s still been a thriller. Let’s hope the second half’s as fun as the first.
60th minute: It’s RSL who strikes first in the second stanza. A Javi shot is deflected by the Revolution defense and bounces right into the path of Nunez and the rookie striker slots home for his first career MLS goal. RSL lead 2-1.
72nd minute: And we’ve got our second RSL sub as midfielder Kenny Cutler replaces striker Kenny Deuchar in a move to shore up the Salt Lake midfield.
82nd minute: Javi has been the man of the match so far for RSL. He continues to torment the Revolution backline and has earned a handful of good opportunities for the home side. New England still looks to earn one back however, should be a good few minutes.
End of Match: And a strong 90 minute performance earns RSL a much needed home victory. The three points, coupled with Houston’s 0-0 draw against Colorado, vaults Real into sole possession of second place in the tight Western Conference. we’ll take the show on the road next week as the guys head off to Kansas City to face the Wizards in another tough match. The team set and matched a pair of team records with tonight’s performance as the Revs’ eight minute goal ended a team record shutout streak at 283 minutes and the victory extends the team’s unbeaten streak to five matches, tying the team mark. Join us next week as the guys look to break that one and continue their run of strong form…
21 Jun 2008 RSL HQ
GOAAAAAAAAALL we stuck back to night and hit New England hard with a 2-1 win!!! their spirts are high and so are mine!!! they were a little slow and nervous in he first half bt getting that goal and attacking really ment something tonight!!! today was a great night to shine, shine for Glory!!!haha
That was the most complete game that I have ever seen RSL play. They played well with the lead, the first 25 minutes of the match they controlled the midfield and made smart passes. They used their width and changed the point of attack. Still need work on finishing, because in every other aspect of the game, the team look really good. Well done.
Bravo RSL…………..
We played solid. Some great service to Deuchar. Morales was great in the midfield and Bomma played outstanding. Great win.
We want the old Leo the Lion back! Where did he go?
Well done RSL! With the win we have moved into second place in the western conference, and I believe that is a first for us. Keep it up! Wahoo!!!
That soccer was much better than the previous four games. The Bochars and Rimando mistake was stupid, but RSL won so it doesn’t matter. Just keep playing like that, and perhaps try playing like that on grass and on the road.
Where did Leo Go?, Nothing about a great RSL performance?
Morales was the man of the match, and we may have found another player that can put the ball in the net.
How about two in a row on the road??
Excellent win!!!!
Much better game tonight. Now let’s take it to the road!
Glory Glory RSL!!!!
nice win, lets keep it up.
Section 22!!!!! (Soon to be section 26 in the new stadium)
http://www.Rslmonarchy.blogspot.com
Great game. Yesterday was also the first game where we gave up the first goal and actually won all year. Feels great to be in second place which means that the only thing that matters now is how we do the rest of the season. Cant wait to get Espindola and Sturgis back. Still would like to see some better finishing especially from Deuchar. Now lets see if we can do the same thing on the road.
very nice game way to play offense the hole game and not bunker down. good win let take it to KC on the road!!!!!
First off, congratulations RSL on a fantastic victory, to preserve both the current and home unbeaten streaks and pick up a well-earned 3 points. The “old” RSL would have crumbled after going down 1-0 in the 8th minute (on a really stupid goal, by the way), but the guys dug in, played their game, and it turned out the way we all hoped it would.
Secondly, on a slightly more sour note, we went to the Baxter’s after-party for the first time this season (we planned to regardless of the outcome…but it was much appealing with the win), and I’ve got to say I was a little disappointed. I’d never been to Baxter’s, so I didn’t really know what the atmosphere was like, but it wasn’t exactly set up as a great “after-party” type place. We were expecting something more along the lines of a buffet, a bar, some tables and chairs strewn about, and plenty of mingling and congratulatory chatting with other fans, the players, staff, etc. Instead, there were standard 4-tops and booths, and an area to the side for the players and their family/significant others. Now, don’t get me wrong, the players were more than gracious to smile, wave, and say thanks as we congratulated them upon entering, and I’m sure they wanted (and deserved) to enjoy the post-game victory party as much as the rest of us. But it just wasn’t what it was made out to be by the FO. Perhaps our expectations were a little unreasonable (although, I’ve been to my fair share of these with other sports franchises, and I think what we were expecting was accurate). But, that being said, FO, you might want to work on this a little more. I’m sure the players would have been happy to chat a bit, but we didn’t want to interrupt their sit-down dinners any more than I doubt they would have wanted to do the same to us. So, give the laid-back setting some thought, FO. A cover for the buffet, a by-the-drink bar, and an open setting. I think it would work much better and be more well-attended.
Agree with you Ryan. The old RSL would have given up the first goal (probably by someone like Jack Stewart) and pack it up like champs the rest of the game and lose 1-0. That by far was the worst goal RSL has given up all season, followed probably by the worst goal anyone has given us all season. I like most of the fans at Rice Eccles thought that Deuchar headed that one in but on the replay it was a bad header by Heaps. The new RSL had the gumption to pull out a victory.
As for Baxter’s, I hope that we can get a place that the club runs in the confines of the new stadium for the after-parties and/or watch parties.
Great win. I think RSL looked the best as they ever have during that game. We outplayed the best team in the country for just about the whole game. Morales played excellent during that game.
I think the thing that drives me most nuts about RSL is their lack of consistancy. We win the best team in the league while just 3 days earleir we tie nil-nil to the worst team in the league at home. And I know that sometimes that happens and it can be a fluke, but this happens ALL the time with RSL. You never know which game they are going to win and which they are going to lose. I wish we could see a bit more consistancy with the team. Either way, great job on Saturday, let’s keep this rolling.
The confetti party was epic!!!
Keep it up RSL!!!
GLORY GLORY RSL!!!
rslmonarchy.blogspot.com
Pete:
Are you the guys that got yelled at for throwing confetti?
I agree with Ryan that RSL’s first goal was a bad mistake by Heaps, as opposed to a good finish by Deuchar or Findley. However, the service on set pieces and restarts was by far the most dangerous of any game to date. The majority of the services were sent in the mixer and not harmlessly sent over or in front of the players. It was exciting to watch and hopefully a sign of continuing improvement.
Great match. Morales was solid and it was refreshing to see him attack the defenders. I did however find humor in the headlines, “Nunez is turning heads.” I was grateful that he scored, but he really isn’t a presence on the field at all, in fact I almost compare him to Cutler. His goal was simply lucky it was deflected of a defender because he sure didn’t create the chance. Anyway, great defense and saves from rimando.
One more win and they have equaled last year.
I think this was the first game in four or five that I haven’t been bored for at least half of it.
Congratulations!