Perhaps the biggest change Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis has made to his team's roster since he took over as coach was to bring three players on board from Argentina.
On Wednesday, the move that brought Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales and Matias Mantilla to Utah paid off as Real Salt Lake earned only their third win of the season and climbed out of last place in the Western Conference with a 3-1 victory against the Kansas City Wizards.
The entire match turned in the very first minute. First, Real's Kyle Beckerman forced Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman to make a save just 10 seconds in.
Then, on the subsequent corner kick, Morales sent the ball through the goal area for a header by Mantilla that made the game 1-0 just 40 seconds in.
The goal set a new team record for the fastest goal scored in a game; the old record was held by Brian Dunseth, who scored in the third minute of a game against Dallas in 2005. Team captain Eddie Pope said Real did nothing different than usual in getting the goal.
"Over the past month, we've gotten great chances; at the beginning of the game even, we've gotten good chances, but they just haven't gone our way," Pope said. "Tonight we were fortunate that we took our chances and they went in. Tonight we did the same things we've done in the previous weeks, and tonight the ball goes in the back of the net for us. It's a good feeling, because we're able to get the second and then the third."
All three of RSL's new Argentinians were part of a goal against the Wizards -- Morales and Mantilla on the first goal, and Espindola on the second. Alecko Eskandarian intercepted the ball in the midfield and got it forward to Espindola with plenty of space to run into on the left in the 42nd minute. Espindola streaked into the box and shot the ball upwards and inside the near post to make it 2-0.
Kreis liked what he saw from the team's three newest acquisitions.
"Very, very nice," Kreis said. "And, all three contributed in other ways than scoring goals."
After his goal, Espindola celebrated with a handstand-into-backflip maneuver familiar to Kreis fans in Salt Lake City and Dallas.
"It brought a tear to my eye," Kreis said. During his 108-goal career, Kreis celebrated his tallies the exact same way.
After leading by two goals at halftime, Real seemed lost during the second half. Kansas City's attack strengthened, while Salt Lake struggled to keep possession as well as it did in the first half.
"Kansas City was throwing caution to the wind a little bit," Kreis said. "We could have done a little better with that. I would have liked to see us play a little bit more intelligently."
The Wizards' relentless pressure in the second half led to a goal in the 69th minute. Sasha Victorine saw the ball bounce up behind him and sent a backheel toward Eddie Johnson. On the turn with his back to goal, Johnson slashed a side volley that hit home inside the far left post.
After the goal, the atmosphere at Rice-Eccles Stadium changed, as fans seemed nervous that Real would give away the lead while watching the Wizards attack the goal over and over again. But in the 85th minute, Andy Williams scored with a goal that could be among the league's best of the year. After Atiba Harris won the ball in the midfield, he slipped forward it to Williams, drove it home from 50 yards out to restore the two-goal lead.
"It was a special goal for a special player," Kreis said. "He is the kind of player that can turn a game around at any moment."
Williams wasn't so sure about the shot as it left his foot.
"I thought it was going to swerve at the last minute, but it kind of straightened up and went in," Williams said. "I knew that as soon as I got a chance, I was going to hit it, whether it was in the 69th minute or the 89th minute."
The win might be just the thing Real needs as they begin a four-game stretch of road games over the next 16 days. But the team stopped short of calling Wednesday's game a major turning point in the season -- Kreis did as much after RSL's victories against Houston and D.C. United, but would not do it again.
"I'll keep my lips sealed," Kreis said. "We have to continue to get better. One result does not suddenly make us a good team overnight."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
