RSL survives Columbus Crew test, wins 1-0

Real Salt Lake survived a chippy match against Columbus Crew, winning 1-0 on the back of a first-half Sam Johnson goal.

The match saw a slew of early chances for Columbus Crew, who were fairly miserable at finishing them, and a slew of late chances for Real Salt Lake, who proceeded similarly.

The 13th minute saw Nick Rimando and J.J. Williams come together, and the referee went to video review. The play saw Rimando stick out his hand in a one-on-one situation, and his hand was subsequently stepped on. Nothing came of the review, but certainly RSL had reason to be concerned about a potential penalty call.

Real Salt Lake found the game’s opener in the 38th minute, with Sam Johnson making a brilliant run past the Columbus center backs after Aaron Herrera lumped the ball forward for a clearance. Both Crew defenders let the ball loop over them and bounce, giving Johnson just enough time to break through the pair to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Joe Bendik. His finish was simple, but it left Bendik with no chance.

Johnson didn’t start the second half, which won’t have delighted anybody on the Real Salt Lake side. Nick Besler took his place, with Johnson suffering some sort of right thigh injury, perhaps lingering from the win over Sporting Kansas City.

Nedum Onuoha also saw a thigh concern, with his coming after a post-play intentional collision from Columbus Crew’s Luis Argudo. He was substituted for Marcelo Silva, and reports indicated that it was precautionary change.

All told, the match started chippy and only continued in that direction, with the referee rarely gaining any sort of traction in calming the waters.

Lineups

Real Salt Lake

Rimando
Lennon, Glad, Onuoha (73’ Silva), Herrera
Everton Luiz, Kreilach, Rusnák
Baird, Johnson (46’ Besler), Saucedo (90’ Schmitt)

Columbus Crew

Bendik
Afful, Crognale, Keita, Jiménez (73’ Francis)
Hansen (65’ Argúdo), Clark, Guzmán (78’ Artur), Pedro Santos
J. J. Williams, Sosa

Cautions

• RSL — 31’ Herrera
• CLB — 32’ Sosa
• RSL — 55’ Baird
• RSL — 62’ Besler
• RSL — 80’ Saucedo