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SANDY — Real Salt Lake players and coaches weren’t down after failing to score a goal in Saturday night’s 0-0 draw with the L.A. Galaxy to open the Western Conference semifinals.
It is, after all, only halftime.
“Of course, we’re always angling for a goal,” said RSL defender Tony Beltran, who described the locker room as “positive” after the match. “But considering the circumstances, we did not want to give up a goal. In the last few minutes of the game, we’re all conscious of that. The goal is to win, though, because that puts us in a better position.”
That’s not to say the home side didn’t have its chances. L.A. goalkeeper Jaime Penedo stood on his head in the second half to keep the clean sheet, and RSL will have a chance to move further into the playoffs with any sort of a win or tie at the StubHub Center next Sunday.
The RSL defense also takes a 403-minute shutout streak into Southern California, where it opened the 2014 Major League Soccer season with a 1-0 result over the Galaxy that saw Nick Rimando turn heads in goal.
“I’m extremely confident in our team,” coach Jeff Cassar said. “I thought they played a great game on both sides of the ball. Their goalkeeper had a great night, and on a different night, we’d be in unbelievable position. But right now, we’re in a great position with the away-goals rule. If we create these chances in L.A., I give us a really good chance (of going through).”
If RSL wins or draws but scores a goal in L.A., the Salt Lake side will advance to the conference title match on the first tiebreaker, an away-goals rule that Major League Soccer implemented this year.
The team didn’t look like it wanted to deal with any tiebreakers in the opening leg, though.
Luis Gil, who started in midfield for an ill Ned Grabavoy, stunned the second largest crowd in Rio Tinto Stadium history of standing room-only 20,713 with a double nutmeg down the left side of the field 25 minutes into the match.
Both teams seemed to have broken the deadlock, but both were called offside during the play. Joao Plata snuck one past the Galaxy defense in the 23rd minute, only to see the flag raised, while LA's Gyasi Zardes saw his effort that beat RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando called back in the 36th minute.
Plata charged at Penedo in the first minute of the second half, looking for a goal while rifling a shot that the Galaxy ’keeper pawed aside with a reflex save to keep the score line level. The diminutive Ecuadorian had another chance in the 65th minute, but Penedo made a diving save to his left in a one-on-one situation.
“(Penedo) was fantastic. He was making a lot of different saves, commanding his box, and for us, we know we’ve got to put it in the back of the net,” said Cassar, a former goalkeeper himself. “But I thought we did a good job, following up rebounds in the first half and came close. We created chances several different ways, which is promising. But he was very, very good tonight.”
With less than a minute left in regulation, Javier Morales lofted a close-range ball over the L.A. defense and Penedo dived backwards to tip it over the crossbar and out for a corner kick in arguably the best save of the match.
“He was incredible,” Beltran said of Penedo. “Tonight, credit to him for sticking up on a couple of really good chances we had. His save on Javier’s free kick was really impressive. We’ll have to work really hard to put one past him next week.”
Penedo finished with six saves, while RSL netminder Nick Rimando made one to preserve the clean sheet for the home side.
Now RSL goes to Los Angeles with scoring on its mind. Put away a chance or two, come out a result, and the local side will be back in the Western Conference finals — a position it knows well.
“We knew there would be a lot to play for, no matter if we went up, down or tied,” RSL captain Kyle Beckerman said. “It’s just halftime, as we all know. We still have a chance, and it’ll still take everything we’ve got. It’s still out there for us to go get.”
Contributing: Jeremiah Jensen
