With one sharp snap of his leg, FC Dallas forward Dominic Oduro sunk the hearts of over 16,000 Real Salt Lake fans in Rice-Eccles Stadium Thursday night.
Real Salt Lake fell to FC Dallas 1-0, with the only goal of the game coming in extra time, adding salt to the wounds of its season. The frustrations of a winless season are threatening to torture RSL.
“Mentally, this is another tough situation for the team,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said.
The lone goal of the match came in the 91st minute when Oduro found himself racing toward the goal shadowed by an RSL defender. After contact, Oduro had only goalie Nick Rimando to beat. He swiftly decided the game by slashing the ball from the right side as Rimando made a fruitless dive at the shot.
The goal further fueled an already fiery crowd who witnessed a no-call that worked against RSL in the 89th minute.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Atiba Harris was streaking to the goal on a breakaway for a promising try when he was clipped from behind by an FC Dallas defender, effectively stifled the scoring opportunity.
The no-call clearly frustrated Kreis, whose reaction led to his ejection. Fans on the east side of Rice-Eccles Stadium began throwing debris on the field in protest.Nevertheless, Kreis’ players refused to blame the no-call plays for the loss.
“If we get into the habit of sort of blaming referees?you forget to focus on yourself,” RSL defender Eddie Pope said. Pope also announced his intention to retire at the end of this season.
“At the end of the day, we didn’t score any goals,” forward Chris Klein said.
He also did not feel the no-calls cost the game for his club.
“The concerning thing to me is what happened up until that point,” Klein said.
Defense was solid for Salt Lake’s squad, anchored by the play of goalkeeper Nick Rimando who tallied ten saves. Rimando continued his commendable patrol of the net.
At one point late in the game, Rimando turned away a furious attack by the Hoops. Forward Arturo Alvarez sliced into the RSL defense from the left side to take a shot five yards out that Rimando blocked. Juan Toja collected the rebound to take a shot even closer to the net which Rimando also turned away. A third shot was fired over the crossbar by Marcelo Saragosa.
RSL began the game strong, pushing the ball forward and creating early chances. But after its initial charge, RSL gave way to FC Dallas. The Hoops controlled the pace for the majority of the half, taking nine shots compared to Real’s two.
The second half, however, unfolded differently as RSL held possession for long stretches at a time, but still was unable to cash in.
Instead it was a Dallas that again found away to score a late goal and boast its point total in the final minutes of a game.
Real (0-4-6) plans to put this loss in the back of its mind and focus on its upcoming match with the Los Angeles Galaxy (1-4-3) on Sunday. The one-win Galaxy will play without their star, Landon Donovan, who is playing with the U.S. national team. But RSL will not overlook their opponent-even if they are without their main man.
“At this point, we don’t have the luxury of letting our guard down against anyone,” Klein said.
The two teams kickoff at 6 p.m. MT on Sunday in Los Angeles.