Well after Real Salt Lake were able to get the 2-0 win over FC Dallas on Saturday in MLS action, on Tuesday night the result didn't go RSL's way as their struggles in Dallas continue. A great first half goal by Jair Benitez on a free kick that was as good as you will see, and then a nice chip shot by Jackson gave FC Dallas the 2-0 lead in 54th minute and RSL wasn't able to recover.
It is funny how this match was almost a mirror image of the match on Saturday where RSL controlled the pace and maintained possession of the match, it was FC Dallas who simply controlled the match from the start and RSL simply was unable to get into the match on the offensive side. It will be FC Dallas moving on as RSL have never won in Dallas, and hopefully we can now officially retire the yellow kits as they simply haven't really brought us but one victory.
While the lineup looked like the names we expect from our first team, the results didn't look like what we normally expect from this set of players, clearly the fatigue of travel and the heat had the same impact on our team that the travel and elevation had on FC Dallas on Saturday. I don't believe in the mental block theory, the pitch in Dallas isn't that different than the pitch anywhere else, we know that the few fans that show up at Pizza Hut Park don't cause any intimidation. Now the heat may play a factor but with the temps being in the high 80's in Salt Lake City in recent days, I don't buy that as a single cause either. So unless these two sides meet in the playoffs the Kreis Cup would be a draw as RSL had a 0-0 draw at Dallas in MLS action, a 2-0 win at Rio Tinto, and now a 2-0 loss at Dallas, as these two evenly matched sides are 1-1-1 with each team scoring 2 goals at home.
So the year started with dreams of the #TheQuad and now we are fighting for the remaining two trophies, both of which would see us qualify for 2012 Champions League action. Let the focus turn to 3 points on Saturday afternoon against the Whitecaps.
OFF MY SOAPBOX