Post-Game: @FSL

By: Michael Sandoval

There are three games a year which either end in total happiness, or bitter anger, and last night’s game was the latter with a side of complete frustration.  The Colorado Rapids had a healthy serving of chances in the first half, but no one seemed to want to, or know how to, score a goal.  The defense put forth another stellar performance, and had to see another goalkeeper mistake cost them points.  A 1-0 loss has not hurt this much in a long time.

The first half was all Colorado.  They came out looking hungry for the three points and were the more entertaining side through-out.   Shkelzen Gashi got his best chance to score so far this season in the 22^nd minute.  He was played in alone on Nick Rimando but elected to shoot from further out then he really needed to and his shot went straight to the FSL keeper.  For someone who was brought here to score goals, he needs to put that one away.  No excuses!

In the 42^nd minute Dillon Powers split the defense with a midfield run but failed to slide the ball past Rimando, however he did managed to recollect the ball and send it back to Gashi who had an open net.  The Albanian international placed it well to the far post but heartbreaking-ly his effort was blocked by a diving header.  The goal was prevented more by a great defensive play rather than a poor shot, but still, you have an open net.  The frustrations continued in stoppage time when Luis Solignac was one on one with Rimando, and only managed to blast it straight at the keeper.  I’ve never missed Kevin Doyle so much in my life.  John Spencer has a lot of work to do.  No one was capable of finishing.

The second half saw Salt Lake start to find their feet but once again they never seemed to threatening.  Any attack they would muster typically would end with a miss played pass or a simple tackle by a Rapids defender.  Which makes the loss that much worse. It wasn’t that Salt Lake beat us, we beat ourselves.  In the 72^nd minute Zac MacMath came off his line when FSL sent in what looked to be a pretty harmless deep ball from midfield.  MacMath had two defenders to deal with the cross but elected to come out anyway.  In a pile up of four players (three Rapids one Salt Lake) Axel Sjoberg swung his leg at the ball but only managed to chip his own keeper, leaving Joao Platta an empty net at point blank range.  You probably won’t see a worse play, in all of MLS, for the remainder of the season.  And that’s how we lost.

It was a frustrating loss for sure, felt by players and fans alike.  This was not the start we wanted for the Rocky Mountain Cup but we still have two games to settle the score. Our Burgundy Boys will be back in action midweek, with a clash against Sporting Kansas City at 7:30 on Wednesday (broadcast-ed on Altitude 2).  Two road matches back to back can be rough, but I’m confident the team is eager to show they are better than what was shown Saturday night.  

Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Justen Glad, Aaron Maund, Chris Wingert (Demar Phillips 73’); Kyle Beckerman, Sunday Stephen (John Stertzer 84’); Juan Manuel Martinez, Luke Mulholland (Javier Morales 64’), Joao Plata; Yura Movsisyan.
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Jordan Allen, Jamison Olave, Devon Sandoval.

Colorado Rapids (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Eric Miller, Bobby Burling, Axel Sjoberg, Marc Burch; Micheal Azira, Sam Cronin; Marco Pappa, Dillon Powers (Dominique Badji 79’), Shkelzen Gashi; Luis Solignac.
Substitutes not used: Chris Froschauer, Conor Doyle, Zach Pfeffer, Dillon Serna