Thanks to the RSL Communications team:
FIREWORKS THROUGHOUT IN RSL'S 3-3 DRAW WITH NEW ENGLAND
Early Red Card and Two-goal Deficit Put RSL in Hole, but Home Side Storms Back to Earn Point in Annual Fourth of July Contest
SANDY, Utah (Monday, July 4, 2011) - Tonight's latest installment of the Real Salt Lake-New England Revolution series at Rio Tinto Stadium once again made for a memorable affair, as RSL stormed back from an early red card and two-goal deficit to salvage a 3-3 draw in front of 16,139 fans during the Utah side's annual Fourth of July Celebration affair in Sandy.
During the past two seasons, the goalfests between Real Salt Lake (7-3-6, 27 pts.) and New England (3-8-7, 16 pts.) were solely of RSL's creation, but it was New England getting in position to do some damage early tonight after referee Yader Reyes issued a straight red card to RSL DF Nat Borchers just three minutes in after an apparently fair tackle against Revs MF Benny Feilhaber inside the penalty area. New England striker Rejko Lekic stroked the ensuing penalty kick past RSL GK Nick Rimando to put the Revs up in the opening moments, an advantage that was doubled in the 16th minute when MF Chris Tierney's 35-yard free kick curled around the RSL wall and inside the right post.
Despite being down a man and two goals RSL began to find its legs, and the home side would get one back in the 24th minute when MF Will Johnson knocked in the rebound of MF Andy Williams' 30-yard free kick that bounced off the right post and into the six-yard area. In the 56th minute it was the Claret-and-Cobalt getting the benefit of the referee's call in the area, a handball whistled against Revolution DF Kevin Alston setting up a PK for the Utahns, which FW Álvaro Saboríoburied past Revs GK Matt Reis to even things up at 2-2.
However, New England would get the momentum back just seven minutes later through a Feilhaber free kick, which captain Shalrie Joseph met with a header at the top of the six that skimmed off the right post and past Rimando, once against putting the visitors ahead, this time at 3-2. But the Revs' roll would be short-lived, as DF Ryan Cochrane would receive a red card of his own, his second yellow card offense in the 67th minute evening the teams up at 10 men apiece and setting up a frantic finish. Second-half substitute FW Fabian Espíndola would bring the crowd to its feet in the 83rd minute, taking Saborío's through ball up the middle and finishing his 1-v-1 chance against Reis to bring the score to its eventual 3-3 finish.
more after the jump:
Real Salt Lake Match Notes
- The 83rd minute equalizer by Fabian Espindola pushed his team-high goal total in MLS play this season to five. The Argentine striker has now bagged four goals in his last six League appearances, beginning with his tally on June 4 at Vancouver (also scored on 6/11 @ PHI, 6/18 v. DC and tonight v. NE). Espindola missed RSL's last two games last week with a nagging left hamstring strain, appearing off the bench tonight with a spirited 27 minutes of play.
- The penalty conversion by Álvaro Saborío marked his first attempt from the spot in League play this season, this after the Costa Rican international was 2-for-2 in MLS play last year and 3-for-3 from the spot in 2010/11 CONCACAF Champions League play. The goal was Saborio's third of the season, with the first two coming in RSL's 3-1 win over Toronto last Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium.
- DF Jamison Olave finally has an assist to go with his nine goals in league play for RSL, his initial pass to Saborío on Espindola's late equalizer marking the Colombian center back's first helper in his 87th MLS contest dating back to 2008.
- The rebound goal by MF Will Johnson was the Canadian international's second of the campaign, following up on his late match-winner against Chivas USA back on May 7 (1-0 W).
- Real Salt Lake will stay at Rio Tinto Stadium this weekend to face off against Western Conference rival FC Dallas for a 7:00 p.m. MT showdown thisSaturday, July 9. Tickets for the contest remain on sale and can be purchased online at www.RealSaltLake.com, over the phone at 801-727-2700 or in person at the Rio Tinto Stadium Box Office weekdays from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. and on gameday beginning at 10:00 a.m. The match will be the first in four days between the two sides, with a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal affair on the docket at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, set for next Tuesday, July 12.
REAL SALT LAKE 3 : 3 NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
MONDAY, JULY 4, 2011
RIO TINTO STADIUM - SANDY, UTAH
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 2 3
New England Revolution 2 1 3
Scoring Summary:
NE -- Rajko Lekic 3 (penalty kick) 4
NE -- Chris Tierney 2 (unassisted) 16
RSL -- Will Johnson 2 (unassisted) 24
RSL -- Álvaro Saborío 3 (penalty kick) 56
NE -- Shalrie Joseph 5 (Benny Feilhaber 3) 63
RSL -- Fabian Espíndola 5 (Álvaro Saborío 1, Jamison Olave 1) 83
Misconduct Summary:
RSL -- Nat Borchers (ejection; Denied Goal Scoring Opportunity (Foul)) 3
NE -- Shalrie Joseph (caution; Persistent Infringement) 13
NE -- Ryan Cochrane (caution; Tactical Foul) 23
NE -- Rajko Lekic (caution; Dissent) 55
NE -- Ryan Cochrane (caution; Tactical Foul) 67
NE -- Ryan Cochrane (ejection; Second Caution) 67
RSL -- Kyle Beckerman (caution; Tactical Foul) 85
RSL -- Álvaro Saborío (caution; Delaying a Restart) 93+
New England Revolution -- Matt Reis, Kevin Alston (Didier Domi 86), Ryan Cochrane, A.J. Soares, Darrius Barnes (Kenny Mansally 46), Sainey Nyassi (Zak Boggs 65), Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Pat Phelan, Chris Tierney, Rajko Lekic.
Substitutes Not Used: Franco Coria, Ryan Guy, Zack Schilawski, Bobby Shuttleworth.
TOTAL SHOTS: 7 (Rajko Lekic 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Rajko Lekic 3); FOULS: 12 (Ryan Cochrane 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Rajko Lekic 1); CORNER KICKS: 1 (Chris Tierney 1); SAVES: 10 (Matt Reis 10)
Real Salt Lake -- Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell (Kyle Beckerman 46), Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Tony Beltran, Andy Williams, Ned Grabavoy, Collen Warner (Chris Schuler 9), Will Johnson, Álvaro Saborío, Luis Gil (Fabian Espíndola 63).
Substitutes Not Used: Jean Alexandre, Nelson Gonzalez, Chris Wingert, Kyle Reynish.
TOTAL SHOTS: 20 (Andy Williams 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 13 (Jamison Olave 3, Andy Williams 3); FOULS: 14 (3 tied with 3); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 6 (Kyle Beckerman 3, Will Johnson 3); SAVES: 2 (Nick Rimando 2)
Referee: Yader Reyes
Referee's Assistants: Peter Balciunas; Mike Kampmeinert
4th Official: Allen Chapman
Attendance: 16,139
Time of Game: 1:56
Weather: Cloudy-and-81-degrees
MLS POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
MATCH REFEREE YADER REYES
On the 3rd minute red card for Real Salt Lake's Nat Borchers:
"At that moment, on the field, I saw him kicking the leg of Benny [Feilhaber] and subsequently get the ball. ...I have not seen a replay. But like I said, what I saw live, on the field, yes [I believe I got the call right]."
On if he reviews calls after a game:
"Usually, things don't play in my mind forever. So [the call] was made, done, over ... move on."
On the 54th minute handball by New England's Kevin Alston:
"[The ball] hit him on the left arm. He jumped with his arm up and deflected the ball. I mean, you can say 'slightly,' but nevertheless his hand hit the ball, in my opinion."
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
Overall thoughts on the game:
"The fireworks were out there on the field even before after the game. My take away from the match is that I'm really, really, really proud of our guys. I just couldn't be prouder of the fight they put in. To suffer a penalty kick and a red card decision in the first five minutes of the match, to be down two goals and a man, and to fight the way we were and to be dominating the game a man down in that situation is remarkable, to say the least. For them to come back the way they did to get to 2-2, then have another disappointing decision against us and a free kick goal scored off of that, and fight back again to get 3-3, it's a huge, huge credit to our group."
On receiving an early red card:
"As a coach you have a lot of belief in your group. You've been through so many situations, you've been together so long, we've been through just about every situation - maybe not that one - but just about any other type. So I felt like we could get through this and we can get all three points, and that's what I told the team at halftime. I think in some ways we have to feel a little bit hard-done that we didn't get all three, because we certainly had the majority of the chances."
On the play of Fabian Espíndola and the other substitutes:
"We needed a player that could come in and break down defenders on his own and we know that that's Fabian [Espíndola]'s capability. I felt like all the substitutions did a real nice job tonight to continue to raise the level."
REAL SALT LAKE FORWARD FABIAN ESPÍNDOLA
On his equalizing goal in the 83rd minute:
"At least I got it so we didn't lose the game, but we could have gotten three points ..."
On going down a man in the 3rd minute:
"It seemed unfair to me because, on top of being on the wrong side of the penalty, we were left with one man less. And then we just had to try to get back into the game from the beginning and try to move forward playing and defending with one less, which was difficult."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN
On fighting back after going down two goals:
"In terms of that, fighting back with so many things against us, it shows a lot of the character that we have in this locker room. You'd like to come out and get a fair chance to play the game and really see who's the better team 11-v-11."
On the 67th minute ejection of New England's Ryan Cochrane:
"It was interesting because we were down a man for that long, but yet it didn't seem like we were down a man. We were able to keep possession. So after that happened it was just going to be a continuance of what was going on already, and that was us keeping the ball and creating chances and getting some corner kicks."
On game-changing moments:
"When it comes down to it, the game changes. Two minutes in, it's a totally different game. I wish it was soccer players, the guys on the field, that could be the reason that games change and not the officials."
REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER WILL JOHNSON
On playing a man down for sixty minutes:
"Obviously you're tired. I mean, we were outplaying them down a man, and that starts to take its toll in the second half. I'm sure we had more possession than them even down a guy, which is a credit to our work rate. We've got to fix the other things and clean up the mistakes. There's no doubt if it was 11-v-11 who would have won that game."
On battling back for a draw:
"The heart on this team, the fight and everything, was phenomenal. The work rate was great and guys moving around and just doing whatever had to be done to get some kind of result. Hopefully, at the end of the season we'll look back and this will be one point gained instead of two points lost."
NEW ENGLAND HEAD COACH STEVE NICOL
On the result:
"I feel like we just threw two points away."
On earning a result on the road against RSL:
"To be honest, what made it so hard today was ourselves. I don't know what to say, I'm absolutely flabbergasted at what just happened."
On moving forward after the draw:
"We have a break, so we need to go home and think about all the things we should have done better today."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION DEFENDER KEVIN ALSTON
On the result:
"It's tough, it felt like a loss. Going up early 2-0 and they've got the red card early, I feel like we should have done better with that. We shouldn't have let them creep back into the game like that. It was tough, it felt like a loss."
On playing with a two-goal lead:
"We can't shy away form our game, we can't just sit back and let them come at us. We were a man up, so that's when you have to keep pushing and use that man-advantage to our advantage."
On the early red card to Nat Borchers:
"It changes everything. It changes their dynamic, it doesn't change our dynamic too much, but it puts us in a position where we can attack more and go after the spot they had open. Anytime a team gets a red card and goes a man down, that changes the game."
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION MIDFIELDER SHALRIE JOSEPH
On taking the early 2-0 lead:
"Going up so early, it definitely helped us relax a bit and allowed us to get a little more defensive. The first one we got lucky and Benny [Feilhaber] just snuck in and Rajko [Lekic] put away the penalty, and the second one was a great free kick by Chris [Tierney]."
On what cost New England the full three points:
"Other than the altitude, RSL is just a great team. We just made mental mistakes and they cost us tonight. We should have walked out of here with three points. We should have done better as a team to hold on to the lead."
On the impact of the two red cards on the game:
"There were some calls tonight that were suspect. The red card to start off with seemed kind of early to give the red card, but once you make that decision, lots of cards are going to come out for 90 minutes ... but you can't complain or take it out on the referee. We had a two goal advantage and a man advantage and we weren't able to pull it off tonight."
Well there you have it. There is little more that I could add to what is in this report.
OFF MY SOAPBOX