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SANDY — A sell-out crowd of 20,415 fans packed Rio Tinto on Saturday night to watch Real Salt Lake take on Chivas USA, but the men in red weren’t able to give them a victory as they fell to Chivas USA 1-0.
As RSL sideline boss Jason Kreis put it following the match, “The defensive-minded team won.” However, Kreis continued, “But it’s not going to change the way we think about the game or the way we try to play.”
Chivas USA entered Rio Tinto with a 0-2-0 season record, which could explain why they played the way they played — full of defense.
“They worked hard for those three points, and they got the goal that decided it,” said Kreis.
Midfielder Ned Grabovoy agreed with Kreis, saying Chivas USA came here “hungry.”
“I think pretty much what we thought it was going to be. They came out exactly how they thought they were going to,” said Grabovoy.
“It’s a team that’s dangerous because you know they’re going to come in, they're 0 in 2, they’re hungry. You know they’re going to be organized, and they end up walking out of here with three points, so it’s obviously a disappointment,” said Grabovoy.
The goal that decided the game came in the 72nd minute. RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando and defender Chris Schuler both went up to defend the corner kick by Chivas USA. But the ball slipped past Rimando and Chivas USA forward Casey Townsend tapped it in.
Fan favorites Javier Morales and Alvaro Saborio entered the match at the start of the second 45 for Sebastian Velasquez and Paulo Jr. with a hope to “change the game a little bit,” said Kreis.
Kreis also subbed for Irishman Jonny Steele in the second half at the 71st minute, just prior to the goal that decided the game.
Despite the loss, Kreis was pleased overall in his roster. “I’m pretty pleased with the performance. We created a ton of chances, we had the majority of the possession, we were the more attacking-minded team, we were the more dangerous team. On a different night, we'd win that game by multiple goals,” said Kreis.
Grabovoy agreed with Kreis about RSL's performance, but said, “I think that it’s exactly what we thought. Maybe we could have moved the ball a little better, maybe we could have created a couple more clear chances. But I thought we did enough to change that game.”
RSL fans saw some familiar faces on the Chivas USA roster as recent RSL players Rauwshan McKenzie and Tim Melia returned to Rio Tinto to play for the opposite side. McKenzie played the full 90 minutes, but Melia’s didn’t see any action.
RSL will head out on the road for week four of the 2012 season and take on the Portland Timbers on March 31, but will return to Rio Tinto the following week to take on the Montreal Impact on April 4.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com.
