Real Salt Lake 4 - Columbus Crew 1 - Champions League 2nd Leg

Wow, simply Wow.  This is just a quick match recap, I will do an indepth review latter.

In front of more than 12,000 fans on a chilly midweek night at Rio Tinto Stadium, Real Salt Lake did more than what most people would have expected.  I thought it would be a tight match with maybe a 2-1 or 2-0 result and sure enough after 49 minutes it was exactly that at 2-1.  RSL played a great first half with a great goal by Alvaro Saborio in the 23rd minute to set the pace and then Javier Morales got the ball past Ray Burse in the 36th minute.  That doesn't tell the story of RSL really playing well and playing their style of game, they controlled possession and passed the ball well.

The second half started out very differently, they looked a bit off in the first few minutes and that bit them a Columbus found a way to turn a poor clearance into a great shot and goal by Andres Mendoza.  RSL continued to struggle for about 5-10 more minutes in the first half but then they regained the composure that served them so well last year and then started to really dominate the match, Paulo Jr. came on for Fabian Espindola in the 71st minute and as we have so often seen he was dangerous from the second he stepped on the pitch and in the 77th minute he made an incredible pass to Javier Morales who again beat Burse and scored his second goal of the night to give RSL the 3-1 lead.  Then in the final seconds of stoppage time a foul on Will Johnson gave RSL a set piece from 7-8 yards outside of the area, and up stepped Andy Williams, and the rest is as they say "is history" as he put a perfect shot past the keeper to give RSL the 4-1 win and put them into the Semi-finals.  They will face the winner of Olimpia vs. Saprissa, that match is on Thursday.

I will be posting post match press conference video from both head coaches, as well as a more in depth match review tomorrow, and hopefully sharing some of my pictures from tonight as well.  Sleep well RSL Nation, you showed up in numbers and supported your team tonight.

OFF MY SOAPBOX