Real Salt Lake has fallen into some familiar patterns this season: struggling early on in matches; finding its way back into a match in the second half; racking up possession but failing to score goals; dropping points at home.
That’s what happened yet again on Saturday night against the Montreal Impact, as RSL came from behind to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real’s only goal came from a Yura Movsisyan penalty kick, as the team’s once-prolific attack continued to flounder, but the scoring problems were far from the only ones in a tepid, flat match.
Everything surrounding the match seemed sedate — from the lower-than-usual volume on the PA system, to the late-arriving fans, to the way Real played throughout the first half. Well, except for the Impact, that is.
As Luke Mulholland presciently said after the match:
I was watching from the bench and saw that it was just so flat and I was splashing water on my face trying my best to wake up, because I there were times where I was like disinterested in them.
RSL simply wasn’t ready to play, especially against a Montreal side with the defensive discipline and tactical awareness to frustrate on every Real possession. First touches were awkward, passes were made two feet behind their intended targets, few second balls were being won, and runs were coming five seconds too late at critical moments. Part of that was down to the Impact and their execution of their game plan, but virtually every player in red was making the kind of mistakes that are typically associated with fatigue, both on and off the ball.
Montreal’s goal was the direct result of these kinds of errors adding up — poor anticipation and timing in the midfield led to a late tackle and an Impact free kick. Laurent Ciman’s spinning effort led Nick Rimando to parry the ball directly in front of him, where Harry Shipp was running on to take advantage of the rebound. The set piece concession, Rimando’s uncharacteristic miscue, and the inability of the Real defense to pick up the runners were all indicative of just how badly things were going for the home side.
As poor as the first half was for RSL, it could have been a lot worse. Justen Glad, who had initially been slated to rest before a last-minute injury to Jamison Olave in warmups, looked like one of Real’s best players early on, bringing some much-needed energy to the team. Overall, RSL actually fared pretty well defensively, a situation that was exacerbated by the midfield turnovers but also mitigated by the Impact playing without Didier Drogba.
After the halftime break, Real did look a little more alert, but that didn’t substantially alter the outcome of the match. Jeff Cassar made a personnel change, bringing Mulholland on for rookie Omar Holness, who wasn’t able to connect much with his struggling teammates in the first half. Later on, Jordan Allen came on for Burrito Martinez and injected more energy into RSL’s attack, which only seemed to be near full-throttle in the closing minutes of the match.
In fact, it was a defender who made the most critical attacking play of the entire game. Demar Phillips, whose efforts going forward in Real’s last few matches have been somewhat unheralded, made a game-changing run, refusing to give up on a play on the Montreal end line. The left back fought off his defenders, kept the ball in play, and found Joao Plata, who would ultimately draw the equalizing penalty kick.
That sort of extraordinary effort was lacking in a match when RSL didn’t seem to have any answers for the Montreal defense. Much like in the last few games, Real moved the ball around the back line, back to Rimando, and re-circulated around the edges of the attacking third, but lacked the ability to create legitimate scoring opportunities. Although a few chances did open up very late, the finishing simply wasn’t there.
Perhaps most frustrating of all is the fact that the coaches and players recognize these problems, but haven’t been able to resolve them. Speaking after the match, Mulholland summed things up well:
I think there’s times where we got to pick and choose where to go and try not to be as predictable as well. That’s a tough thing to do. I would like to see us mix it up a little bit and try to be more unpredictable when other teams are scouting us.
With two matches coming up in the next week — midweek at Vancouver and back at home against New England on Saturday — RSL doesn’t have much time to figure things out. To that end, Cassar will be hoping his team puts things behind them quickly:
I don’t think we can get too caught up in the points; we really need to just concentrate on the performance and just getting better in some areas. We’ve shown that we can go get three points on the road already a few times this year and it’s no doubt against Vancouver as well.
Perhaps a road match will shake Real out of the summer doldrums?
