Real Sets Home Unbeaten Record With 1-0 Win

Rio Tinto Stadium became the holder of Major League Soccer’s all-time unbeaten streak as Real Salt Lake defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0.

Salt Lake notched its 23rd consecutive home match without a loss (29 in all competitions) Saturday. During that stretch (dating back to May, 2009) Real is 16-0-7.

“[The record] is really cool. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on it, and we haven’t shied away from our feelings about how important it is to our club, our coaching staff, and our players. We’ve taken a lot of pride in it and put a lot of weight in it.” coach Jason Kreis said. “So now we get to, at least for a few minutes, celebrate it.”

Kreis has another reason to be happy as Real drew even with the LA Galaxy (at least until LA kicked off Saturday night) and continued to show championship form.

“I’m happy for the franchise,” defender Chris Wingert said. “I think now we move on and focus on the next few champions league games and hopefully having a shot at the Supporters’ Shield.”

Scoring

Alvaro Saborio scored the only goal of the match in the 47th minute. The goal came on a penalty kick drawn by Ned Grabavoy. The midfielder took a pass from Saborio in the box and was about to shoot when he was pulled down from behind by Chicago’s Wilman Conde. The call resulted in Conde’s 2nd yellow card and an ejection.

Game Notes

Real Salt Lake came out with the first-team lineup except for Javier Morales (suspension) and Robbie Russell (concussion):

• FORWARD: Findley, Saborio (64′ Campos for Saborio) (76′ Paulo Jr. for Findley)
• MIDFIELD: Johnson, Williams, Beckerman, Grabavoy (64′ Gonzalez for Grabavoy)
• DEFENSE: Beltran, Olave, Borchers, Wingert
• KEEPER: Rimando

Real came out to a reasonably good start. They controlled most of play early and were able to stifle opportunities.

Early mistakes at center-back remain a problem for Real. They nearly gave away another goal when Jamison Olave struck a back pass poorly. Rimando was saved from a one-on-one play by a delayed offside penalty.

Kyle Beckerman received a yellow card for a hard tackle on Ljungberg. The call was correct, but the tackle seemed more like a message after a few cheap shots from Chicago.

Beckerman played like he was on a mission to score a goal. He took numerous shots from about 30 yards and attacked the box a few times.

Real spent much of the second half passing the ball around in the Chicago half of the field. This allowed them to kill the lead and looked like an elementary school game of keep-away.

Paulo Araujo Jr. made his MLS debut following his RSL debut Wednesday in CONCACAF. He immediately got a great long shot that hit the post and made the highlight reel.

In the 84th minute, Real nearly scored a second goal when Will Johnson crossed the ball. Paulo Jr. and Campos both slid toward the far post, but neither was able to connect with the ball.

Man of the Match

Will Johnson was a beast on the field and made numerous plays to help his team. He is the man of the match.

Tags: Beckerman, Grabavoy, Home, Paulo Jr, Saborio, Win

Category: Game Review