Match Thoughts: Chivas USA vs. Real Salt Lake

Fabian Espindola and Jonny Steele celebrate Fabi's first goal of the night. (Getty Images)

So, Chivas USA, do you remember your early season win at Rio Tinto Stadium?  Sure you do.  Guess what?  Real Salt Lake did too.  The Claret and Cobalt returned from the international break with with first place on their minds and revenge in their eyes.

The boys did come out a little rusty though.  In fact it would probably be fair to say that Chivas had the better of the opening half possession wise.  You still have to put it in the back of the net though.  RSL did that in the 35th minute, as Alvaro Saborio smacked in a goal, but was ruled offside.  The MLS website called it a "very tight offside call."  I call it incompetence as replays clearly showed Sabo even with the last defender.  Say it with me footy fans, "even is on."

It didn't matter to RSL though, and they seized control late in the half.  Everybody's favorite Irishman Jonny Steele intercepted a dumb ball from Dan Kennedy, who looked clueless all night.  Steele dished over to Captain Kyle Beckerman, who launched a ball into Fabian Espindola.  Fabi took care of business, heading the ball into the net to give RSL the 0-1 lead going into halftime.

It didn't take long for RSL to drive the nail into the coffin in the second half either.  In the 54th minute Ned Grabavoy slid a through ball to Fabi toward the wing, and Espindola came as close as he ever will to channeling another famous Argentine forward.  With some fancy footwork he left former RSL man Rauwshan McKenzie in dust and slapped the ball past Kennedy to make it 0-2.

The Claret and Cobalt wouldn't look back, on offense or defense.  Nick Rimando really only had to make one difficult save all night as Chivas rarely threatened the RSL goal.  A third RSL goal looked to be a sure thing, but it didn't come until stoppage time.  Javier Morales played a brilliant ball over to Will Johnson and the Canadian international blasted a shot into the upper corner of the net to complete the Goat sacrifice and hand RSL the 0-3 win on the road.

Coach Kreis said afterward that it was one of the best matches RSL have played all year, and I have to agree.  Obviously Espindola had a great night, but Real got important contributions from the midfield as well.  Grabavoy did an awesome job with passes on several occasions.  Will Johnson played both midfield and the back line, and played his tail off.  His great effort finally paid off with the late goal.  Javier Morales played in the second half and looked very sharp as well.  Jonny Steele had a bit of a rough night at times, but one can't forget that he made the big play on the Kennedy pass that produced the first goal.  Hopefully he can gain some consistency in the coming weeks as RSL will need the depth on their roster come CCL time.