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SANDY — Goal. Injury. Red card.
Those are the three plays a head coach does not want to see going against them in a match. Unfortunately for Mike Petke’s Real Salt Lake squad, the first 20 minutes of their 4-2 loss to FC Dallas on Saturday featured all three.
First, the goal.
A defensive mistake less than one minute into the game led to an FC Dallas goal off the foot of Carlos Gruezo, giving FC Dallas a 1-0 lead while most fans were still finding their seats.
Next, the injury.
Just a few minutes later, defender Erik Holt went down with an ankle injury that would take him off the pitch for the rest of the match. RSL was forced to use their first substitution just 11 minutes into the game, bringing in Marcelo Silva to replace the injured Holt.
And finally, the red card.
Damir Kreilach was called for a foul near midfield in the 17th minute. After receiving the foul, Kreilach jumped to his feet and got in the face of Dallas’ Gruezo. The referee, who was standing behind the play, gave Kreilach a straight red for “violent conduct.”
A play that involves a straight red is reviewable, but referee Baldomero Toledo opted to continue play. The red card was RSL’s fourth in only five matches this season.
“I want my guys to fight,” Petke said, expecting his team to show resilience. “I want my guys to stand up for themselves. I want my guys to compete.”
Petke jokingly said he will encourage the team to take yoga classes during the week to help calm themselves down to avoid additional red cards.
The call left RSL with only 10 men for the rest of the match’s 70-plus minutes, but the Claret and Cobalt did not give in.
Still trailing 1-0 in the 31st minute, a counter-attack would put RSL on the board. Despite finding themselves out-numbered three to six on the attack, Jefferson Savarino found a window and blasted the ball past Dallas keeper Jesse Gonzalez’ left side for a goal.
Dallas wasted no time before answering back, however, as midfielder Paxton Pomykal found the back of the net less than a minute after Savarino’s goal, putting his team back in front, 2-1. RSL would trail 2-1 at the break after an Albert Rusnak free kick from just outside the box sailed over the crossbar near the end of the half.
FC Dallas kept its foot on the gas in the second half.
After Pomykal scored again to give Dallas a 3-1 lead in the 64th minute, RSL substitute Silva scored his first goal of the 2019 season. Silva brought RSL back to within one goal by knocking in a Rusnak corner kick. Silva, who stands at 6-foot-2, rose above the Dallas defense to knock in the header in the 66th minute.
But FC Dallas scored once again just a few minutes later at the foot of Jesus Ferreira, putting RSL in a two-goal deficit for the rest of the match.
“A man down, scoring two goals and creating some good stuff in transition,” Petke said, speaking about some of the positives in the game. “I thought that we were pretty good defensively for most of the game; it just takes one moment, one bad step, one bad pass and it’s in the back of the net.”
The loss drops RSL to 1-3-1 on the season. The team will hit the road again next week for a match against Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, April 6.
