Sorry it has taken me a bit longer than normal to post these post match comments provided by the RSL Communications team:
VALIANT NINE-MAN REAL SALT LAKE FALLS 1-3 AT SAN JOSE
Fabian Espindola, Jamison Olave Suffer Red Card Decisions; Captain Kyle Beckerman's Equalizer Holds Up Until 2nd-Half Stoppage
SANTA CLARA, CA (Saturday, April 21, 2012) - Real Salt Lake (5-3-0, 15 points, West #2) dropped its second consecutive game Saturday night, as a pair of controversial red-card decisions by referee Elias Bazakos doomed the Claret-and-Cobalt to a 1-3 loss against the San Jose Earthquakes (5-1-1, 16 points, West #1), who moved atop the Western Conference standings with tonight's result, one point ahead of RSL.
Facing the prospects of a three-game week for the second time in this young 2012 MLS season, RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis made two changes to the team that dropped an 0-1 decision a week ago at Kansas City, welcoming back talismanic playmaker Javier Morales to the lineup for the first time in 17 days, with first-year MFJonny Steele penciled into the selection for only the second occasion this year.
In a choppy first half that saw the Earthquakes come out with more energy than an unusually flat RSL, San Jose outshot RSL 9-4, testing the resolve of RSL GK Nick Rimando and the veteran backline of Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers and Chris Wingert - a group that has played more than 6,000 minutes together since 2008.
more after the jump:
Rimando - appearing in his 151st RSL game, all starts - kept San Jose off the scoreboard despite the ‘Quakes' onslaught until the waning seconds of the first half, when Khari Stephenson headed the ball off the outstretched fingers of Rimando, the topspin landing the ball in the net for the 1-0 home-side lead at the break.
San Jose played the final 16 minutes - plus the two minutes of added time - of the first stanza with a man-advantage, as RSL FW Fabian Espindola saw a straight red card after leaving both feet to enter a 50-50 challenge with Earthquakes' MF Sam Cronin at midfield. The ejection marked the third of Espindola's career with RSL.
Eight minutes into the second half, RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman knotted things up at 1-1, scoring the short-handed equalizer following a feed from Steele and a dummy feint from FW Alvaro Saborio before a slalom run through the San Jose defense for his second goal of the season.
Just 16 minutes after the Beckerman equalizer, as RSL continued to absorb pressure from San Jose's 11-on-10 attack, Olave was adjudged by Bozakos to have denied a goal-scoring opportunity by SJ FW Steven Lenhart and was subsequently ejected, resulting in the second red card of the game for RSL and reducing Kreis' team to nine men for the first time in the eight-year organization's 226-game MLS history, and 276 games overall (including MLS postseason matches, CONCACAF Champions League games, Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and exhibition matches). Television replays show that Lenhart actually dragged Olave down by his shorts, as the Colombian defender absorbed the contact initiated by the San Jose forward, who was carrying a yellow card at the time.
Ultimately, the valiant nine-man RSL side held firm for the final 21 minutes of the match, until the full-strength San Jose side was emboldened by a lengthy six minutes of added time, which saw Simon Dawkins and Chris Wondolowski score to give Earthquakes' Head Coach Frank Yallop his 100th career win. The Wondolowski score was his first-ever tally against RSL, leaving Houston as the only MLS team that the prolific Golden Boot winner has not yet scored against.
Real Salt Lake Match Notes
- Real Salt Lake had scored nine consecutive goals against San Jose dating back to the teams' 1-1 draw in May, 2009 prior to Stevenson's goal in the 47+ minute of the first half. RSL is now 3-2-2 at Buck Shaw Stadium in MLS and U.S. Open Cup play since San Jose returned to MLS in 2008, and has won or tied 12 of the last 17 overall matches between the sides. San Jose visits Rio Tinto Stadium on June 23, with RSL returning to Buck Shaw for the third and final regular-season contest on July 14.
- The ejection of FW Fabian Espindola in the 29th minute was the first red card seen by RSL since last September 28, when MF and Captain Kyle Beckerman was sent off in the 10th minute in a home game against Chicago, ultimately suffering an 0-3 loss. All-time, RSL has seen 38 red cards in seven-plus years of MLS play, posting a -14 goal difference and playing 948 minutes at a disadvantage.
- Tonight's affair kicked off a three-game stretch for RSL, as the team seeks its first-ever win in Dallas - and its first-ever win in the state of Texas - Wednesday night at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco, prior to returning home next Saturday night to host Toronto FC. Kickoff at Dallas is set for 6:30 p.m. MT with the game televised live locally in HD on CW30; tickets for Saturday night's home game against winless Toronto FC - seeking to avoid a league-record 0-7-0 winless streak to start the season - can be purchased at www.RealSaltLake.com or by calling (801) 727.2701.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES 3 : 1 REAL SALT LAKE
SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2012
BUCK SHAW STADIUM - SAN JOSE, CA
Goals by Period 1 2 F
San Jose Earthquakes 1 2 3
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1
Scoring Summary:
SJ - Khari Stevenson (Beitashour) 47+
RSL - Kyle Beckerman (Steele) 53
SJ - Simon Dawkins (Beitashour) 92+
SJ - Chris Wondolowski (Stevenson, Moreno) 93+
Misconduct Summary:
SJ - Tressor Moreno (caution, foul) 22
RSL - Fabian Espindola (ejection, foul) 29
RSL - Kyle Beckerman (caution, time wasting) 42
SJ - Simon Dawkins (caution, foul) 44
RSL - Javier Morales (caution, dissent) 47
RSL - Alvaro Saborio (caution, foul) 60
SJ - Steven Lenhart (caution, foul) 68
RSL - Jamison Olave (ejection, Denying a scoring opportunity) 69
Lineups:
San Jose Earthquakes (4-4-1-1) - Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Ike Opara (Alan Gordon 75), Jason Hernandez, Justin Morrow; Rafael Baca (Sam Garza 82), Sam Cronin (Steven Lenhart 61), Tressor Moreno, Simon Dawkins; Khari Stevenson, Chris Wondolowski
Substitutes Not Used: David Bingham (GK), Sercan Guvenisik, Jean-Marc Alexandre, Brad Ring
Real Salt Lake (4-1-2-1-2) -- Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran (Paulo Junior 93+), Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman (c); Jonny Steele (Luis Gil 60), Will Johnson, Javier Morales (Chris Schuler 77); Fabian Espindola, Álvaro Saborío
Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Reynish (GK), Yordany Alvarez, Sebastian Velasquez, Emiliano Bonfigli
Referee: Elias Bazakos
Referee's Assistants: Chris Strickland, Corey Parker
4th Official: Terry Vaughan
Attendance: 10,202 (sellout)
Time of Game: 2:02
Weather: Clear and 82 degrees
RSL POST MATCH QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS
ON PLAYERS: "I'm extremely proud of them for all the work that went into tonight. I challenged the guys a bit at halftime, and tried to get them to look at the situation as positively as possible. I told them it was a challenge to our pride and what we're about to see how they reacted. And they reacted fantastically. We were very close to pulling off a heroic result."
ON OFFICIATING: "He's an inexperienced referee. It was a difficult circumstance for him and he struggled. Our league is trying to bring in new, talented referees, and in order to do that you have to give guys an opportunity and hopefully correct their mistakes. I hope the folks who do the teaching do a lot of teaching with him in the upcoming week."
ON GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO: "Nick's been big time for us for many years. You hate to say it but it's almost expected from him. "
REAL SALT LAKE STRIKER ALVARO SABORIO
ON MATCH: "It was a tough match for us, perhaps because of the players sent off, as it affected our style of play. We tried to play our game with the guys we had out there. We tried to do our job, and they have to do theirs. They have their criteria and you have to respect them."
ON FIRST EXPULSION: "It was a big setback because we lost a very important player for us. We wanted to take advantage of his play and his full potential, but were unable to do so. We have to look forward to the next match, which is going to be very important."
ON GAME PLAN: "We always try to push forward and go for the win. In the end, the referee added so much stoppage time, that motivated them and they swarmed us."
REAL SALT LAKE GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO
ON FIELD CONDITIONS: "It was a short field and a dry night, and a bit slippery for some reason. The ball bounced a bit weird. We came in here trying to play our game, but it's a very small field. When they pressure, it's two passes and a chance at goal. Sometimes you have to pump the ball forward and make it an ugly game. In the first half I don't think we did that and got ourselves in trouble a few times. "
ON STYLE OF GAME: "After the red card, at halftime, I told the guys that it started ugly, so why play pretty now? We kept playing and fighting, and I think we did a great job. But they scored two goals in two minutes and now we're feeling in the dumps. I think we can keep our heads up about our effort."
ON FIRST SAN JOSE GOAL: "I almost got there. Again, it took a weird bounce and went up really high. That surprised me a little bit. I got a hand to it, but wasn't able to tip it over. We knew the ball was bouncing like that, and I train for that before the game. It skipped up and they got the lead before half."
There you go, everything you probably wanted to know and more about Saturday's match. I will do one more post on this match when I look at Olave's red card, that will be later tonight.
OFF MY SOAPBOX