MLS Real Salt Lake

Emiliano Bonfigli's First MLS Tally Helps Utah Side Salvage a Result in Road Swing Finale

Published on April 25, 2012 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


FRISCO, Texas (Wednesday, April 25, 2012) - For the second straight season, Real Salt Lake was able to exorcise its North Texas demons - or at least neutralize them - as the Utah side used a second half equalizer by FW Emiliano Bonfigli to salvage a point from a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas. The share of the spoils at FC Dallas Stadium allowed Real Salt Lake to ring something out of its season-long three-game road trip, which began with losses at conference leaders Sporting Kansas City and San Jose Earthquakes the last two weekends. With the tie, RSL has now claimed a share of the spoils from its last two league visits to Dallas, bringing its record in all competitions at FC Dallas to 0-10-2.

After a bright opening 10 minutes, Real Salt Lake (5-3-1, 16 pts.; 2nd in West) ceded control to FC Dallas (3-3-2, 11 pts.; T-3rd in West), as the Claret-and-Cobalt saw chances by the forward tandem of Álvaro SaborÃ-o and Paulo Junior within the first five minutes stand as the lone shots in the opening 45 minutes. Despite being outshot 9-2 in the first stanza, Real Salt Lake nearly got to the locker room at 0-0, only to see DF Tony Beltran get whistled for an inadvertent handball inside the area just as two minutes of stoppage time began. Dallas FW Brek Shea finished the penalty kick chance inside the right post after sending RSL netminder Nick Rimando the wrong way, allowing the home side to enter the lockers up 1-0.

The second 45 minutes saw Real Salt Lake become the aggressor, as evidenced by its own 9-2 shot advantage after the halftime whistle. Bonfigli would be a part of that renewed attacking energy, entering the match for Paulo Junior in the 69th minute and taking only three minutes to put his stamp on the proceedings. A deftly chipped ball by MF Will Johnson found the onrushing Argentine, who touched once at the edge of the area before finishing low and to the left of former RSL netminder Chris Seitz to even the match at 1-1. SaborÃ-o nearly made it a full three-point ambush for the visitors minutes later when he latched onto MF Kyle Beckerman's ball into acres of space down the right, but after cutting past a back-tracking Shea the Costa Rican striker failed to round Seitz for what would have been an open net finish.

Real Salt Lake Match Notes

- While Real Salt Lake has managed draws in each of its last two regular season visits to North Texas, the Claret-and-Cobalt are still in search of their first-ever win in the state of Texas, their Lone Star State ledger now standing at 0-17-3 when factoring in trips to Dallas (0-10-2) and Houston (0-7-1). RSL will look to remedy that record when it makes its BBVA Compass Stadium debut at the Dynamo on Sept. 6.

- Tonight marked just the second MLS appearance for Emiliano Bonfigli, this after the 23-year-old Argentine made his league debut with a stoppage-time cameo against Colorado back on April 7. While the tally made Bonfigli the eighth RSL player to score in the squad's nine games to start 2012, tonight's finish was technically not his first goal for RSL - or even at FC Dallas Stadium - as he scored the Utah side's lone goal in a 1-3 loss to Dallas in MLS Reserve League play back on March 13.

- That technicality aside, Bonfigli became the first RSL player to open his league scoring account since Luis Gil did so last Aug. 6 in a 3-0 win over New York at Rio Tinto Stadium.

- RSL had to do without the services of both Fabian EspÃ-ndola and Jamison Olave, both sitting out due to red cards received last Saturday in the 1-3 defeat in San Jose. The absence of EspÃ-ndola meant that Álvaro SaborÃ-o and Paulo Junior would start up top together for just the second time in MLS action since the diminutive Brazilian's arrival on the Wasatch Front in September of 2010 (4/13/12 @ Portland, 3-2 W). On the backline, it was Chris Schuler again getting the nod, putting in another sturdy 90 minutes in place of Olave in his sixth start of the 2012 campaign.

- After finishing its three-game away gauntlet against league powers Kansas City, San Jose and Dallas, RSL will return home to the friendly confines of Rio Tinto Stadium for matches this Saturday, April 28 against winless Toronto FC (0-6-0, 0 pts.; 10th in East) and next Saturday, May 5 against the New England Revolution (2-4-0, 6 pts.; 8th in East). Tickets for those contests remain available and can be purchased over the phone by calling 801-727-2700 or online at www.RealSaltLake.com.

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