Yeah, these guys. Enough said. (MLSSoccer.net)
MLS starts off their official recap of the match by talking about how the Quakes "broke their RSL Hex" in season openers. Well, despite the fact that I remain slightly frustrated after Saturday night's result, I wouldn't say that going down by two goals at home and then coming back and earning a last second draw is a particularly awesome thing to do. I guess you can look at it two ways: one, the Quakes showed a lot of heart to come back at home twice this last week after going down. Two, going down at home twice in a row cost the club two big missed opportunities, one in CCL, and one in MLS. There comes a point where draws aren't good enough.
But speaking of missed opportunities, let's talk about the match and Real Salt Lake. Might I say that things were a bit sloppy? Yes. Especially on set pieces, which were one of RSL's big issues last year. They were really solid on them in LA, but less so up the road in San Jose, and it cost them in this one. The first goal came off of a set piece in the sixth minute. Shea Salinas sent a free kick into the box that found the head of Victor Bernardez. (We'll talk about both of these guys again in a bit.) Bernardez flicked the ball to Chris Wondolowski, who basically deflected the ball in at close range to give the Quakes the 1-0 lead. Did anybody check to see if he had an extra "W" on the jersey?
Fortunately RSL responded well to going down a goal in the early stages. I liked this, because it hasn't always happened with this team. In the 11th minute Joao Plata dropped the ball off to Kyle Beckerman who drilled a shot on target from outside the box. It bounced off the post and into the goal to knot the match at 1-1. I always like to see Beckerman taking those kinds of shots, he's proved to be very dangerous out there, just ask the Portland Timbers.
From there on in, RSL controlled the rest of the first half and had the best scoring chances. In the 32nd minute Plata torched a couple of Quakes defenders, then engaged in some nice give and take with Luis Gil, and then slotted the ball into the back of the net to give the Claret and Cobalt the 1-2 lead. It really was top notch work from both Plata and Gil, who I thought looked pretty good filling in for the injured Javier Morales.
RSL would take further control in first half stoppage time. Ned Grabavoy, who I thought had a better night than he did against LA, smashed a shot off of Quakes 'keeper Jon Busch, and RSL new boy Luke Mulholland played trash man, scooping the rebound and knocking it into the net to make it 1-3. It was is first goal for the club in his first start.
Things seemed to be under control in the second half. Well, as under control as they can be against the Quakes anyway. You always wait for the other shoe to drop against them and sure enough it fell late on in the match. In the 71st minute Aaron Maund, who I thought had another solid start, had to come off and was replaced by Carlos Salcedo. Then in the 75th minute set piece issues struck again as Salinas (again) put a corner into Bernardez (again) who headed the ball into goal to make it 2-3.
Still, it seemed like RSL was going to survive and take all 3 points. They took their one goal lead deep into stoppage time and looked to have it sealed up. Then in the 95th minute Shaun Francis sent a cross into the box, and it looked like we had it dealt with, as Nick Rimando rose to try to punch it clear. However, his punch was weak, and it went only so far as an unmarked Victor Bernardez, who hammered the ball into the back of the net to make it 3-3 at full time.
In the end, I guess it at least wasn't Lenhart that did the damage, but it was just as frustrating. I'm not trying to blame Carlos Salcedo at all, but one wonders if Schuler or Maund were in the game late on, well maybe the defense is just a little tighter on those last two goals. To Salcedo's defense, it often takes a CB 30 minutes or so to get into a match as they don't move and loosen up as much as forwards or midfielders. In the end I think Maund going out was a big moment in the match.
At any rate, RSL should be relatively pleased by getting 4 points from that opening road swing. They'll head home for the opener at Rio Tinto this weekend, again against the Galaxy, where the set piece defense is going to have to be better. It would also be nice to see Schuler back in the lineup. San Jose will travel to Sporting Kansas City, where the defending champs will try to break out of their early season doldrums, but before that, the Quakes will travel to Mexico to take on Toluca in the 2nd leg of their CCL tie.
So now here are the three stars for the match:
1st STAR--Shea Salinas, San Jose. This guy caused trouble for RSL all night long, and contributed two set piece balls that led to the first two San Jose goals.
2nd STAR--Joao Plata, RSL. Platita continues his role as danger man in chief for RSL during these early weeks of the season. Saturday night he contributed a ton of energy, a goal, and an assist to the cause.
3rd STAR--Victor Bernardez, San Jose. Yeah, the guy has a bit of an attitude problem on occasion, but to me there's no denying that he's one of the best center backs in MLS. He's more than solid at the back and is ALWAYS dangerous on set pieces. I would like to see our center backs emulate that particular quality on a more regular basis.
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