Real Salt Lake 0 - Toronto FC 0 - official post match comments and my thoughts

OK it was an exciting match that ended up with zeros on the scoreboard, TFC took 12 shots to RSL's 10 but RSL had 5 on goals while TFC got just 4 on goal.  In the end it was the keepers and the posts that kept the score tied at 0-0, for RSL they struggled out of the gate but found their form about 25 minutes into the match and were the better team after that point.  RSL's road record is now 3-4-4 with 10 goals scored and 10 goals against.

So here are the official post match comments:

REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS

On the squad's effort on a quick turnaround...

"Very happy with what the guys put into it tonight. Our main objective here was to get a shutout - that was really all we were focused on - so I'm pleased to get a point here away at the end of a difficult road trip."

On difficulty of selecting starting lineup...

"It was interesting. If we'd won the game against Cruz Azul I feel like we probably would have taken a few more risks, played a few different players in this match. But being the way the (Cruz Azul) game played out, how disappointing it was for us, we really felt like we needed to respond and allow guys opportunities to respond."

On hitting a pair of posts late...

"I feel like it was unlucky or we were a little hard done by, but we don't seem to have too many problems scoring goals these days."

more quotes from the RSL locker room after the jump:

REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER WILL JOHNSON

On any fatigue from travel...

"A little bit. It was a tough week. Obviously I would have liked to play 90 minutes tonight, but you know, it wasn't quite in the cards. But we've got a full week to recover, so we'll get back at it at home next week.".

On the feeling within the team...

"We're in a good spot. We've put ourselves in a good position. We've got 40 points with eight games to go and last year we won the MLS Cup with 40 points, so we're definitely in a much better spot than we were last year. At the same time there's still a lot of room to grow, we're a few plays away from really being out front in this league."

On playing in Toronto...

"Yah, it's always fun. We always enjoy coming back to Canada. The fans here are great, so it's always fun to come out and play here."

REAL SALT LAKE GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO

Thoughts on the night:

"It's a hard place to play, but our team mindset coming in was to get that zero and it was a hard defensive effort and we got that zero. It was good and bad to play after the loss to Cruz Azul just Wednesday because you get a bad loss and you want to get right back at it, and this was an opportunity to get right back on track. We didn't get a win, but we wanted have a good defensive effort and that's exactly what we had tonight, a full team effort on the defensive end. That was a positive."

Just for the fun of it, here are the post match comments from TFC head coach Preki:

Thoughts on game...

"We gave it a really good effort tonight; I mean it could have gone either way. Both teams had some chances but thought the commitment from the group was really good. We worked ever so hard; at times I'd like to see us work a little bit smarter - making better decisions with the ball."

Comments on Ty Harden's play in for Attakora...

"I thought he did a decent job they worked really hard - both of them (Adrian Cann). That's why we brought Ty here, we knew he had some talent and he is a good guy in the locker room and works really hard, and today he stepped in and I thought he was pretty decent in Panama too."

On Mista playing the whole 90 minutes...

"I mean when he has the ball we all know that Mista is talented he's just still lacking the 90 minute fitness and sharpness but you know he gave a really good effort tonight and hopefully in the next few games he'll get more fitness level in his legs and he'll be better for us."

So with a big match coming up on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls, international call ups will impact both teams.  For Real Salt Lake Will Johnson stayed in Canada as he will be on their team for a couple international matches this week, and Alvaro Saborio will be heading down to Costa Rica for another stint with their national team as well.  The Red Bulls are still waiting on a couple players to make decisions on their invites to spend time with their national teams, but Joel Lindpere, Bouna Coundoul, Rafa Marquez, Roy Miller, and Dane Richards all have been asked to join their national teams for matches this week that would keep them out of the lineup on Saturday.

21 home matches without a loss is what RSL will bring with them into the match on Saturday, the longest streak ever in MLS history is 22 matches held by the Columbus Crew, RSL is also the only team left in MLS this season that hasn't tasted defeat at home.  At stake is also a chance to perhaps close the gap with LA for first place in the Western Conference,  LA lost 2-0 at home on Saturday night, and will play early 2pm MT on Saturday as they head to face the Chicago Fire.  If LA should lose and RSL win, both teams would have 43 points and be tied for the top of the Western Conference and perhaps have the best point total in MLS.

OFF MY SOAPBOX