If you had asked Real Salt Lake fans what they hoped would happen in RSL’s match at Kansas City last Saturday, most would have replied that they would be thrilled with a draw. Some might have made bad jokes about invoking the Children’s Mercy Stadium name, while others would have mentioned dubious offerings to the soccer gods.
Those fans will be thoroughly ecstatic in the wake of RSL’s 2-1 victory over Sporting. Playing one of the club’s biggest rivals on the road without so many key players wasn’t exactly ideal, but Real earned a memorable win nonetheless, answering some questions that have been asked in previous matches about the team’s resilience.
Injuries and suspensions had virtually turned RSL into an entirely new side. Kyle Beckerman, Burrito Martinez, and Jamison Olave were all suspended, and starters Nick Rimando and Javier Morales were out with injury. Even backups were hard to find, with Olmes Garcia recovering from injury just in time to make the bench, while Phanuel Kavita, Emery Welshman, Boyd Okwuonu, and Omar Holness were out injured and Fito Ovalle was unavailable due to personal reasons.
Real was so depleted that the team invoked the new “hardship” rule, allowing Jeff Cassar to call up two players — Emilio Orozco and Andrew Brody — from the Monarchs.
Fortunately for RSL, Kansas City was in a similar situation, albeit not quite as completely bananas. Although Peter Vermes didn’t need to augment his bench with USL players, Sporting was missing a number of players through injury, while Roger Espinoza was suspended for the match as well.
With so many changes to the starting lineup, Real would clearly have to make some tactical adjustments against Kansas City. Playing at one of the toughest venues in the league may also have factored into Cassar’s approach (RSL had just one previous win at Kansas City), which was surprisingly direct.
RSL shed the “snobby” style that Benny Feilhaber so memorably decried a few years back and morphed into a legitimate counter-attacking side. Rather than moving the ball across the back and slowly working forward, Real was willing to take some pressure from Sporting and look for chances to counter quickly.
It ultimately paid off. RSL’s Justen Glad, in his first start of the year, not only showed well defensively, but scored Real’s first goal as well. The 19-year-old center back nodded home a free kick from Joao Plata — who has quietly become the centerpiece of RSL’s attack — at a critical moment in the first half, forcing Kansas City to chase the game at that point.
Luke Mulholland — who got a chance to start in Cassar’s 4-3-3 due to all of the absences, as Jordan Allen was pushed forward into a striker role — scored Real’s second goal. Although both RSL goals came from set pieces (either directly or in the immediate aftermath), the visitors hit the woodwork on several occasions and might have scored more.
The performances from Glad and some of his fellow ‘reserve’ players will give Cassar something to think about as Real looks forward to its upcoming Rocky Mountain Cup fixture against the Colorado Rapids next weekend. While Kyle Beckerman and Jamison Olave will have served their suspensions, the injury situation is still in flux. Real can be confident in its depth and allow recovering players to heal fully instead of taking risks injury-wise.
More importantly, RSL took a big step forward in terms of the mental aspect of the game. Several times this season, team discipline — both in terms of mental toughness and fouls/cards — has been called into question. On Saturday night, Real looked like a team that had turned a corner.
