Real Draws Chivas USA

Real Salt Lake earned a 1-1 draw against Chivas USA Saturday night.

Real dominated the run of play but gave up a fluke goal and failed to capitalize on late opportunities to take the lead.

“I'm disappointed that we didn't get the result because I thought we did everything necessary to get it,” Kreis said. “That's soccer.”

Real is still in second place in the Western Conference and nine points behind the LA Galaxy.

The side will host DC United next Saturday and then begin a grueling schedule of MLS play and CONCACAF Champions League. August and September will include 14 matches in 56 days and three international trips.

How Real fares in that stretch will go a long way toward determining playoff seeding and Real's chances at repeating as MLS Cup Champions.



Scoring

In the 67th minute, Ned Grabavoy put Real on the board when he one timed a rebound from the top of the box into the back of the net. The ball had great movement and hooked into the corner of the net.

Unfortunately, Real's lead was short lived.

In the 70th minute, Jesus Padilla drove a long shot directly at Nick Rimando. It bounced off Nick's hands, shot between his legs and into the net.

Game Notes

Kyle Beckerman returned to a starting lineup that began rotating some players to save energy for the upcoming schedule:

• FORWARD: Saborio, Espindola (68' Findley for Espindola, 83' Campos for Saborio)
• MIDFIELD: Williams, Beckerman, Morales, Johnson (62' Grabavoy for Beckerman)
• DEFENSE: Beltran, Borchers, Olave, Wingert
• KEEPER: Rimando

Team USA defender Jonathan Bornstein didn't even make the trip for Chivas.

The only major RSL lineup changes were Espindola for Findley and Beltran for Russell. Both are part of a rotation that RSL will be playing in order to keep legs fresh during the grueling CONCACAF schedule.

Chivas players threw two cheap shots in the first three minutes. The second nearly led to a fight on the field.

Both sides struggled to get chances early, with the ball mostly being played at midfield. Real definitely played better, but wasn't able to get a good opportunity until after the 30th minute.

The referee got frustrated early with blatant stalling from Chivas. He nearly booked the Chivas keeper in the first half and eventually did in the second.

Andy Williams took a cheap shot in the 28th minute that earned Chivas' Espinoza a yellow – it should have been red as it was a blatant play from behind that looked like it was intended to injure.

Jamison Olave saved a goal early when Nat Borchers was taken down deep in RSL territory, and a Chivas player came free with the ball. Olave caught up and took an angling slide from behind that took the ball cleanly. It was so clean, the Chivas player couldn't even flop on it.

Saborio had RSL's best chance to score in the first half. In the 36th minute, he took at pass at the top of the area, turned, and fired on goal. A Chivas player was able to get out and deflect it so it went for a corner kick.

Chivas missed some passes so badly it called into question whether or not they are a professional team. On one, a free kick that was intended as a cross-field pass went nowhere near any player from either side. For the duration of this blog, we will call a horrifically bad pass a Chivas pass.

Beckerman received a yellow card thanks to the official missing the first half of a play. A Chivas player grabbed Kyle's hair and tried to step on his injured foot. Beckerman retaliated and received the card.

On one of Real's best chances, Saborio was denied by Chivas' keeper on a hard driven shot from the top of the area. The ball went out for a corner and led to Grabavoy's goal.