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SANDY -- With a few more added to the injury list and one on the suspension list, Real Salt Lake couldn't quite bring it together Saturday night as they were shut out 2-0 by the Columbus Crew.
And it didn't take long for Columbus to establish itself in the match as it saw the back of the net in the 5th minute and then again five minutes later giving them an early advantage over RSL and an eventual win some 80 minutes later.
Despite the loss, RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis was pleased with his players, in some aspects.
"I think that they got a bit frantic and certainly a bit frustrated. I'm pleased with the effort; I'm pleased with the fight. I don't think any of them out there quit. I think that they tried to put everything that they could into that game to get back into it, but we just came up with it short in the quality department tonight," said Kreis.
I think that they got a bit frantic and certainly a bit frustrated. I'm pleased with the effort... but we just came up with it short in the quality department tonight.
–Jason Kreis
With the injury to defender Jamison Olave during the MLS All-Star game and a recent injury to defender Tony Beltran, Kreis had to readjust the back four, but didn't think that the adjustment was Saturday night's problem.
"Two of our back four were different, but for me it wasn't the back four, it was the entire defensive effort and the entire focus and mentality in the first part of that game because I really believe those (two goals) were both mental errors and just a little bit of concentration and maybe a touch of commitment," said Kreis.
On Friday afternoon RSL was notified that it's Costa Rican striker Alvaro Saborio had been suspended and fined $1,000 from an incident during the previous weekend's match against San Jose which earned him a penalty kick and, in turn, a goal for RSL.
A press release from the Major League Soccer Friday stated, "The Disciplinary Committee determined that Saborio fell in a deliberate attempt to deceive the officials and gain an unfair advantage. The subsequent foul and penalty kick goal had a direct impact on the match and will impact San Jose's next match because San Jose defender Bobby Burling was issued a red card on the play."
With the news coming so closely to the weekend match it's no doubt Kreis was frustrated with the news.
"As a coach, when you have a week in between games, you prepare, you spend a lot of time making sure the right guys are training together and that everybody is on the right frame of mind and the right spots with each other and to find out Friday, at the end of our meeting, after I've already laid out the starting line up and Sabo's name is on it - we talk about where we want him running and positioning and everything else - and to have our GM come in at the last minute and tell us, ‘Oh by the way, Sabo's not going to play,' - it's not good enough in my opinion, it's not good enough from the league and it's disrespectful to coaches."
The loss also seemed to get the better of some of the players' emotions just following the final whistle. One of those players was RSL forward Fabian Espindola, who reacted very aggressively to something that was said to him by a member of the Crew, and had to be restrained by officials and RSL staff, but fought against the restraint for a moment.
"Fabian's a very emotional player and he was in particularly, trying to make a real difference for us every time he got the ball tonight, was going at players and trying to get behind them and trying to make the final pass, to make the goal, but it wasn't coming off for him, as it wasn't for a lot of the players so he runs a little bit hot and cold as we said and tonight at the end of the game he was very hot," said Kreis.
Emotion also got to Saborio, obvious during his post-game interviews. "It's difficult to watch the game and see that kind of play," said Saborio. "We know we can do much better, but for now we continue for the next game and try to win."
