RSL falls 1-0 at Toronto FC

TORONTO -- Real Salt Lake conceded a first goal from a set piece and overcame a quiet first half, but couldn't find the equalizer in a 1-0 defeat by Toronto FC on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field.

Laurent Robert's direct free kick in the 31st minute proved to be the difference for the Reds, who collected their second victory of the year after defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy last Sunday in Los Angeles. Toronto collected back-to-back wins for just the second time in its short history, and with their record now 2-2, are at the .500 mark for the first time as well.

For RSL, its second defeat of the season came after being held without a recorded shot in the opening 45 minutes. Real had the better of the play after the break, but couldn't find a way past the TFC defense.

BMO Field was a veritable sea of red as a sold-out crowd greeted their side with the usual Toronto mixture of chanting, banners and nonstop enthusiasm.

The Reds seemed to feed off of their supporters' energy and pushed the pace in the opening minutes. TFC collected the first shot of the match in the fourth minute when an Amado Guevara free kick nearly snaked its way through a crowd of defenders to a waiting Danny Dichio in the goal area. Dichio couldn't quite get a touch on the ball, however, and RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando was able to collect Guevara's shot.

This became a trend of the game's first 20 minutes, as the Reds managed several crosses within the Salt Lake area that either just missed Dichio's reach or sailed past the big forward when he found some space. Real did their best to keep the TFC midfield's passes from reaching Dichio, and mostly had to play back on their heels to prevent Toronto from scoring. RSL didn't help their own cause by picking up 12 fouls in the first half. It was an undisciplined 45 minutes for a side that had collected just 23 fouls in their first two full matches.

RSL's physical play came back to haunt them when defender Matias Mantilla shoved Guevara down right on the edge of the box. From the resulting free kick, almost straight out from goal and almost sitting right on the penalty area line, midfielder Robert made no mistake with a strong kick that sailed under the wall and eluded Rimando. The goal was the Frenchman's first in Major League Soccer after he signed with Toronto on April 3.

Real Salt Lake took another blow when midfielder Nathan Sturgis left the game in the 25th minute. The U.S. under-23 international was carried off the field after suffering what was later reported as a hamstring strain. Sturgis was replaced by Carey Talley.

Both clubs made only one change each to the starting lineups that netted them wins last weekend. Real replaced Fabian Espindola at forward with Robbie Findley, and Englishman Rohan Ricketts made his Toronto debut in the midfield taking the place of Jarrod Smith. Ricketts made his presence felt early on with a nifty evasion of two Real defenders within the penalty area, but his crossing pass just missed connecting with Dichio on a header attempt.

Ricketts made another nice move in the 35th minute, when he escaped two challenges in his own end and wound up carrying the ball down the right side leading a four-on-two Toronto rush. Though he had two teammates open, however, Ricketts made an ill-advised attempt to carry the ball all the way to the net himself and it was harmlessly knocked away by a Real defender.

Another chance on the right side was created by Reds defender Marvell Wynne, who had a long carry down the field after taking a chip pass from Maurice Edu in the TFC end. It appeared as if Wynne had taken one too many steps, as his shot was easily deflected at close range by Rimando, but the rebound found a wide-open Dichio. The striker's shot went high over the net in yet another near-miss.

The missed chances were the only thing keeping RSL in the game at the half. Aside from a chance in the opening minute that resulted in an innocuous goalmouth block from Edu, Real were shotless in the first 45 minutes. It was a far cry from last Saturday, when Salt Lake tied a club-best with four goals in a 4-0 win against D.C. United.

Real came out on the attack after the break and earned three corners in the first three minutes of the second half. After the first corner from Javier Morales, four different RSL players got a foot on the ball before it finally bounced to striker Kenny Deuchar. But the forward's shot was blocked in front of the net by Wynne.

The first 20 minutes the second half seemed like a reversal of the first -- suddenly it was Toronto FC playing back while Real controlled the pace of play. The difference was that RSL's aggressiveness didn't result in any clear scoring opportunities. When a chance did fall into Real's hands, they failed to capitalize, such as in the 67th minute when a crossing pass found the foot of midfielder Dema Kovalenko and TFC 'keeper Greg Sutton was out of position. But Kovalenko screwed his volley well wide of the net.

These lost chances seemed especially costly when Toronto rebounded with some offensive momentum of its own. Team co-captains Jim Brennan and Carl Robinson each tried a shot within a two-minute span. One of the key components of the TFC attack was Guevara, who was started the game at forward rather than his usual midfield position and was a constant distraction in the Salt Lake end.

With their best chances lost, Real Salt Lake couldn't manage that necessary breakthrough chance, as BMO Field exploded with confetti and streamers at the final whistle.

Toronto FC continues their five-game homestand with a match on Saturday against the Kansas City Wizards. A win over K.C. would put the Reds over the .500 mark for the first time in club history. RSL heads to the nation's capital on Saturday for their second games in three weeks against D.C. United. In the win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on April 12, Real collected the most decisive result in club history.

Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.

Real Salt Lake (1-2-1) vs. Toronto FC (2-2-0) April 19, 2008 -- BMO Field

Scoring Summary: TOR -- Laurent Robert 1 (unassisted) 31

Real Salt Lake -- Nick Rimando, Ian Joy (Andy Williams 62), Matias Mantilla, Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Kyle Beckerman, Dema Kovalenko (Yura Movsisyan 79), Nathan Sturgis (Carey Talley 27), Javier Morales, Kenny Deuchar, Robbie Findley.

Substitutes Not Used: Tony Beltran, Fabian Espindola, Jamison Olave, Chris Seitz

Toronto FC -- Greg Sutton, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Marco Velez, Jim Brennan, Rohan Ricketts (Jarrod Smith 84), Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Laurent Robert (Todd Dunivant 81), Amado Guevara, Danny Dichio (Jeff Cunningham 90).

Substitutes Not Used: Brian Edwards, Kevin Harmse, Julius James, Andrea Lombardo

Statistics

Toronto FC

Real Salt Lake

total shots:

11

(Amado Guevara 4)

8

(Deuchar 2,Findley 2)

shots on goal:

4

(4 tied with 1)

3

(3 tied with 1)

fouls:

12

(Carl Robinson 4)

17

(Matias Mantilla 4)

offsides:

3

(Danny Dichio 3)

1

(Robbie Findley 1)

corner kicks:

3

(Amado Guevara 2)

8

(Javier Morales 8)

saves:

3

(Greg Sutton 3)

3

(Nick Rimando 3)

Misconduct Summary: TOR -- Marco Velez (caution; Pushing, Holding) 73 RSL -- Chris Wingert (caution; Reckless Foul) 78

Referee: Silviu Petrescu Referee's Assistants: Amato DeLuca; Kermit Quisenberry 4th official: Paul Ward Time of game: 1:50 Attendance: 20,219 Weather: Clear -and- 75 degrees

All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial

MLS Quote Sheet - Toronto FC 1 : 0 Real Salt Lake

SATURDAY, April 19, 2008

BMO Field - Toronto, Ontario, CANADA

Toronto FC Head Coach John Carver

On his club's defending today:

"We've had one or two critics about the way we defended, I thought the second in particular we had to defend, it was the cliché game of a game of two halves, and it certainly was today. But I thought we defended ever so well, we put our bodies on the line, I thought Sutz (Sutton) took the pressure off us by coming and taking a few catches which helps your back four. I thought the midfield worked their socks off and defended well, as did Danny Dichio, and Guevara."

On Ricketts debut….

"I thought the first half he showed glimpses of excitement which is why we got him.The second half he tired and that's why we changed him. I changed my two wide guys I could of possibility done it earlier - but I wanted fresh legs on."

On the crowd for first home game….

"I think it was a little more than I imagined. You know you can talk about it, but once you're out there and experience the occasion then there's nothing better. I've had some great occasions in my life, and it has to be on the top of the list, I mean the fans were fantastic I'd like them to continue for 90 minutes, but it's certainly going to be an intimidating place to play and we to make it that."

TORONTO FC MIDFIELDER LAURENT ROBERT

Thoughts on the game:

"To win the game is the most important thing, it doesn't matter who scores. It is important to play, win and enjoy, and today I did all of those things and I am very happy here. We played more defensive in the second half but we kept the ball and managed to win the game. I was lucky because the free kick was very close to the box and I knew the wall would jump so I thought I would put the free kick on the floor and it worked."

TORONTO FC MIDFIELDER CARL ROBINSON

On the match:

"It was great to be back out there and play at home again. After winning at LA it was important to get a good result. There is no point working so hard to win in LA if you come home and don't get the three points, so it was crucial to win. I didn't think the fans could get better than last year but judging by what it was like today, it was even better."

REAL SALT LAKE GOALKEEPER NICK RIMANDO

Thoughts on the match:

"This is a tough place to play so we dropped off a little bit and seemed to give them a lot of room and some space to play. Second half I think we turned things around and Jason (Kreis) told us to go at them and you could tell by what happened. We had our chances but didn't put of them away."

REAL SALT LAKE HEAD COACH JASON KREIS

On the differences of RSL's play between the halves:

"It was definitely a tall of two halves I think that we came out tactically and played that game a little bit wrong to be honest, I think the coaching staff takes full responsibility for us sitting back, perhaps we should have pressed them from minute one."

On what he said to team at half time….

"I just said that I thought there were two big things tactically, we had to press them as we would at home, treating it as though it was our game for the first 15 minutes I didn't expect we'd be able to do it for the whole half, but they did, credit to them. Our guys were giving the ball away a bit needlessly in the first half, I thought just the soccer needed to be better as well."

REAL SALT LAKE MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN

Thoughts on the match:

"We felt we battered them in the second half which is something we just gotta work on. We gave up a goal that could have been prevented; we'll just work for next week.

"We felt we got enough to tie it up and get something out of the game, but it just wasn't our day. All credit to them, they got the goal and held us out so which just need to keep working harder and hopefully we'll get some better luck."

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