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MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Earns Another Road Point With 0-0 Draw At Chicago

June 23, 2011 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (Wednesday, June 22, 2011) - Real Salt Lake (6-3-5, 23 pts.) and the Chicago Fire (2-4-10, 16 pts.) battled to a scoreless draw at Toyota Park tonight, allowing RSL to earn a tie or win for the sixth time in the last seven meetings between the clubs. The tie was RSL's third in-a-row, while the scoreless draw marked RSL's third such result of the season.

RSL GK Nick Rimando notched four saves on the night in recording his seventh clean sheet of 2011 (RSL has eight, courtesy of GK Kyle Reynish at NE on April 9). The shutout was the 81st of Rimando's illustrious MLS career, 45 of which have come as a member of the Claret-and-Cobalt since his arrival on the Wasatch Front in 2007. The vaunted RSL defense has allowed one goal or fewer in 12 of its 14 MLS games this season, letting in just eight goals thus far (including two on PKs), a pace that projects to only 19 goals allowed in a 34-game regular-season. A year ago, RSL allowed just 20 goals in the 30-game campaign, setting a new standard in MLS annals and breaking the record set by the 2007 Houston Dynamo.

In the five games since May 28, RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis has paired FW Fabian Espíndola and converted MF Jean Alexandre up top in the attack. However, that pairing was torn asunder on Tuesday when Alexandre was suspended prior to the team's departure for Chicago, and suffered a knockout blow when Espíndola - fouled by Fire DF Cory Gibbs in the game's 4th minute - aggravated a left hamstring strain and was forced to leave the match.

Rookie FW Artur Aghasyan - making just his fourth career MLS appearance - replaced Alexandre in the starting lineup, while 17-year old phenom Luis Gil - normally a midfielder - came off the bench to replace Espíndola. The young legs of Aghasyan - the cousin of former RSL FW Yura Movsisyan - went 69 minutes on the evening, while Gil equaled the most extensive action of his career by playing 83 minutes, previously matched back on June 11 at Philadelphia in his lone MLS start.

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