/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45897928/usa-today-8446815.0.jpg)
As we try to name a man of the match for this very weird occasion, we sort of run into a few walls.
It can't be a defender. This is especially the case because maybe the best candidate, Jamison Olave, scored a goal, but he also scored another goal for the wrong side. It probably shouldn't be Tony Beltran or Demar Phillips, who both played well but left something to be desired in transition play.
It can't really be anyone for Philadelphia Union, because while the finishing was good or something like it, they didn't really have to create their own chances. We just sort of handed them to them, which was awfully magnanimous. And besides all that, this Man of the Match stuff is about pinpointing the best player for Real Salt Lake, because quite frankly, that's who I'm paying more attention to during the course of the game.
In fact, the more I think about it, the more it can only really be one of a couple players, and it's probably Javier Morales. He did have that great moment in the first half with a quite excellent free kick goal, and we commend him for that.
Aside from that, he generally did a good job creating opportunities. On nearly every free kick or corner, we had an opportunity — and certainly part of that is that we've got a reasonably powerful team from set pieces, but it's also that he's a creative player in that way. In fact, his five key passes gives us something to look at and smile.
Was Javier Morales perfect? Probably not. But he was creative, scored a goal, controlled possession well, and was a dangerous option consistently. That's not so bad. We'll give him man of the match this time, but let's aim higher next time, yeah? Yeah.