Sports stats



MLS Real Salt Lake

RSL settles for 1-1 draw

June 20, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HOUSTON -- Despite the heat and playing a man down for 32 minutes, Real Salt Lake came away from Robertson Stadium on Saturday with a much-deserved 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo. A Fabian Espindola goal opened the scoring as RSL held off wave after wave of Dynamo crosses, set pieces and even a penalty, before finally conceding a late equalizer in the 89th minute to Brian Ching.

The single point from the draw also ensured Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear will guide the MLS All-Stars against Everton FC in the MLS All-Star Game on July 29, to be played at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Salt Lake came out the more aggressive side. In the first six minutes, Houston was lucky not to be down as midfielder Will Johnson first had his shot blocked by a sprawling Andrew Hainault. Just two minutes later a Nick Rimando goal kick was flicked on by Espindola to Yura Movsisyan, but Movsisyan's shot went over the bar.

Fresh off a water break called for by the referee, Real Salt Lake got the break through their early play deserved. In the 28th minute, Movsisyan drove in on goal and laid off a cheeky backheel to Espindola in the box. Espindola sent his effort toward a wide open far post, but before it got there, the ball deflected off Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell and Salt Lake led 1-0.

The first half wasn't flawless though for Salt Lake. Yellow cards to Tony Beltran and Jamison Olave would later come back and haunt Salt Lake. On the Olave foul, a Dynamo free kick was sent in on goal by Brad Davis, but Rimando was positioned perfectly and made an easy save.

Houston looked to have equalized in the 35th minute. Another Davis free kick looked to have been deflected into the Salt Lake goal. The linesmen ruled that Hainault was offside, but the deflection also looked to have gone off a Salt Lake defender. Still, the goal was disallowed as Hainault was involved in the play and Real led 1-0 at the half.

Houston brought on Ching to start the second half and immediately came out attacking, putting RSL on its back foot. In the 52nd minute, Brian Mullan found Stuart Holden in front of goal, but Holden's effort went just wide. Moments later, Kei Kamara was open at the top of the box, but his effort was saved well by a diving Rimando.

Then in a moment, the game changed. While Ching was prepared to make a throw-in, Olave was directly in front of Ching preventing the throw. Referee Jair Marrufo came over and showed Olave his second yellow of the night, leaving Salt Lake shorthanded for the final 32 minutes.

In the 74th minute, Houston almost made Real pay for their earlier mistakes. Rimando made a poor decision and fouled Brian Ching when Ching looked to have played himself out of position for any type of attempt on goal. Marrufo quickly pointed to the spot, but Davis hit a poor penalty and Rimando remedied his earlier mistake with the save.

The Dynamo kept coming, though Salt Lake almost held them off. Yet in the 89th minute, Houston got its equalizer. A Mullan cross found Ching in front of goal. Ching skied for the header and smashed it into the net, leaving Rimando no chance.

With the tie RSL now has 16 points from 14 games. After back-to-back road games, Real Salt Lake return home where they will face Toronto FC next week.

Check out the Real Salt Lake Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from June 20, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central