Ice cold will meet red hot Saturday as winless Real Salt Lake plays host in Rice-Eccles Stadium to a D.C. United team that has not lost in seven straight matches.
D.C. United (5-3-2) is surging toward the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Leaving Salt Lake City with three points would put pressure on New York, Kansas City and New England–the three teams United is eyeing in the standings.
Real Salt Lake (0-5-6) has different concerns. As the season quickly approaches a state of ashes and smoke, the team is looking for a way to catch fire.
Coming off of a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, RSL’s offensive woes looked as though they had found an end. After a 297-minute scoring drought, the third longest such streak in MLS history, RSL found offensive prowess in the form of Chris Brown.
The forward, normally a reserve, got the nod for his first start of the year and answered the call by delivering two goals.
However, the offensive explosion was bittersweet as Brown injured his hamstring late in the match and will not take the pitch on Saturday against D.C. United.
The upcoming weekend provides a chance for United to make its move with both New York and New England idle. Kansas City will grapple with the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. Three points could possibly catapult the blazing United into second place, depending on Kansas City’s performance.
Offensive questions still remain for RSL head coach Jason Kreis, who was suspended from the game at the Home Depot Center for his ejection from RSL’s match with FC Dallas on June 14. Despite the loss, RSL teammates expressed feelings of hope.
“We could have really started biting each other (after the loss),” said midfielder Chris Klein. “We are going to stick together as a group, and keep fighting through this thing.”
Andy Williams also started his first game of the season against the Galaxy after Kreis noticed improved play by the team when Williams was on the field.
“I thought that this was probably our best game all year,” Williams said.
But RSL is not going to just feel good about a loss and move on. It’s back to basic principles–mainly, the team has to play 90 minutes of soccer.
“Now we just need to, like everyone says, play a complete game,” Williams said.
Klein echoed the same mantra.
“One of these days we are going to put a full game together, and it’s going to be a win for us,” he said.
Putting together a full game of solid defense and dangerous offense against D.C. United will not be a simple task. United boasts four multiple goal scorers, including Luciano Emilio (5), Ben Olsen (4), Christian Gomez (3) and Jaime Moreno (3). Real has one player with multiple goals–Brown (3).
Another glimmer of hope presented itself in the match versus the Galaxy as RSL scored off of a corner kick for the first time in more than two years. Freddy Adu’s kick found Brown’s head by the back post past the defense and Brown swiftly knocked the ball home.
Adu’s corner-kicking services, however, went with him on Monday to work for the U.S. in the Under-20 World Cup.
Against United, RSL will have to limit the defensive mistakes they made against the Galaxy.
“There were a couple of mistakes we made, and they punished us for those,” Brown said of Sunday’s game. “It’s frustrating when we played that well, and a couple of mistakes kill you.”
Goalkeeper Nick Rimando has been brilliant at most times this year, posting a league-leading 56 saves while facing a league-high 73 shots.
Saturday is an opportunity to exercise RSL’s newfound offense and reestablish its defense. If both happen, RSL may grab its first three-point result of this year’s campaign at the peril of D.C. United.
“We don’t have a win to show for it, but we’re just at the point where maybe we can break through,” Klein said. “I think we are a tough team to play against.”
Arturo Alvarez of FC Dallas battles Willis Forko as RSL attacked the goal in last Thursday’s loss.