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Shorthanded RSL Loses 5-0 at San Jose in Battle for MLS

July 15, 2012 - Major League Soccer (MLS) Real Salt Lake

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Real Salt Lake (11-7-3, 36 points, West #2) couldn't make the third time the charm against the San Jose Earthquakes (12-4-4, 40 points, West #1) on Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, giving up four goals after captain Kyle Beckerman was shown a straight red card in the 57th minute to lose 5-0 and drop their third game of the season to the 'Quakes. MLS leading scorer Chris Wondolowski scored a hat trick to lead first-place San Jose to victory - he now has 17 goals on the year.

RSL started the game uncharacteristically poorly, struggling to connect passes against San Jose's full-field pressure and looking a little sloppy in the back. The fast-paced, direct style of the game favored the Earthquakes, which went ahead through Wondolowski in the 18th minute. Wondolowski - the 2010 and 2011 MLS Golden Boot winner - took advantage of some confusion in the box to put San Jose on top, heading home a bouncing ball from point blank range following a corner kick from San Jose MF Marvin Chavez.

San Jose continued attacking after taking the lead, nearly scoring on several other occasions in the first half. Conversely, RSL couldn't find much of anything in the Earthquakes' final third, struggling to string attacks together throughout the opening frame.

Still, RSL was very much in the game at halftime, trailing just 1-0 at the break. Hopes were raised when the Claret-and-Cobalt started the second half brightly, holding much more of the ball and creating a few half chances in the first few minutes of the final stanza.

But things changed in a big way in the 57th minute, when Beckerman was shown a straight red card for his role in a scuffle at midfield. The fracas started when San Jose MF Sam Cronin took out RSL playmaker Javier Morales, and heated up when Beckerman knocked Cronin to the ground with a retaliatory tackle.

Beckerman's challenge - which was called a foul by referee Allen Chapman - led to multiple players from both teams engaging in a shoving match at midfield. Beckerman was initially at the center of things, but was seemingly pulled away by Chapman before anything too serious happened. Still, the RSL captain was shown a red card - San Jose's Victor Bernardez and Justin Morrow both earned yellows - leaving his team down a man for the final 32 minutes.

San Jose quickly took advantage of their numerical superiority, going up 2-0 in the 63rd minute. FW Alan Gordon notched the goal, tapping in a rebound after Bernardez headed a set piece off of RSL GK Nick Rimando's right post.

Wondolowski put the Earthquakes up 3-0 10 minutes later, losing RSL DF's Jamison Olave and Kwame Watson-Siriboe to flick home a cross from San Jose MF Shea Salinas. Things got worse for RSL in the 79th, when substitute MF Simon Dawkins tapped home a Wondolowski header off of a corner kick to give the Earthquakes a 4-0 lead.

Wondolowski completed his hat trick less than a minute after Dawkins' goal, latching onto a through ball from substitute FW Khari Stphenson at the top of the box before burying a shot inside the far post to make it 5-0.

RSL will look to bounce back from Saturday's humbling defeat on July 21st, when they'll host the Colorado Rapids in the second of three Rocky Mountain Cup matches this year. RSL will clinch the Cup by winning that match, which will be shown live on CW30 starting at 8:00 p.m. MT.

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 15, 2012


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