They say all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately for Real Salt Lake, they came to an end too quickly this weekend as RSL’s run of form came to an abrupt halt on Sunday with a 1-0 loss at San Jose.
The result may well have confirmed the end of the club’s long run of playoff appearances as well, as the Earthquakes were one of the sides with which Real is contending for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Nearing the end of a busy September in which the club had five matches in 16 days, RSL came into Sunday’s nationally-televised affair with some weariness and injuries. Javier Morales sustained a hip flexor injury in Thursday night’s CONCACAF Champions League match which kept him out, forcing coach Jeff Cassar to go with Luis Silva in his place.
Morales’ presence was missed in the Real midfield as they struggled to hold and retain possession against a San Jose side that came out with a solid game plan to neutralize RSL’s attack. The Quakes pressed high and forced the speed of play, capitalizing on Real’s weaknesses.
San Jose’s pressure prevented RSL from playing the ball out of the back and building through the midfield, forcing turnovers and keeping Real on the back foot for virtually all of the first half. When RSL did manage to get the ball, the Quakes were able to recover the ball too easily as Real’s off-the-ball movement couldn’t keep up, stranding one or two players with too few passing options.
Cassar’s experiment with Jordan Allen at right back turned out to be a liability early on as well. Although Allen is a talented and versatile player, he simply didn’t have the experience at the position to deal effectively with Shea Salinas down the flank.
Luckily for RSL, however, San Jose was a disaster in the final third, earning chance after chance but failing to put any of them away. Nick Rimando came up with some spectacular saves as well, keeping Real in the match against the run of play.
Several of RSL’s players looked exhausted after getting perhaps too many minutes midweek, compounding matters. Cassar’s second-half substitutions improved the situation to some extent, and Real was able to find some good chances late in the match — Joao Plata in particular had a couple of excellent looks — and really should have scored.
With both teams’ finishing leaving much to be desired, it was almost somewhat fitting that the game-winner would be scored on a rather ugly deflection. Just as when the two teams met earlier in the season, however, it would come in controversial fashion as the Quakes’ originating play appeared to come from an offside position.
Regardless, the goal was given and RSL couldn’t come up with an equalizer despite being a man up for the last several minutes after goalscorer Matias Perez Garcia was sent off, having received a second yellow card for taking his shirt off in his celebration.
The result likely put an end to Real’s playoff hopes — although there is still a mathematical chance that RSL could sneak in, it depends more on other teams dropping points than anything else. It’s an unfortunate end to a series of matches in which Real played some very nice soccer, but not wholly unexpected.
RSL is left to regroup and try to get back to form next weekend in Colorado, where a result would be important for the fans.
