SALT LAKE CITY - For the second week in a row, Real Salt Lake came so close. Victory against Chivas USA was within their grasp. A win was exactly what Real needed in order to stay within striking distance of a playoff berth; but instead of coming away with a win, Real gave up a goal in stoppage time and were forced to settle for a 3-3 tie.
Real made the same mistake in their last match, a 1-0 loss to FC Dallas just four days earlier. To be sure, coach John Ellinger is getting tired of late-game letdowns, and he let his players know it in a post-game press conference.
"There's something that goes in a jock strap; I guess you've got to have that in order to play this game," Ellinger said. "Anyone that's been to both games, and most of you have been to both games, know that we should have four points minimum from the last two games."
Nikolas Besagno, who got his first start of the season, was just as disappointed in Wednesday's result as he was after last Saturday's loss to the Hoops.
"We had the game," Besagno said. "If it's a tie, a loss or a win, it's disappointing to give up a goal at the end of the game."
Chivas defender Claudio Suarez stuck the pin into Real's ballooning hopes for a victory in the 94th minute. Jesse Marsch dribbled to the endline inside the penalty area, then crossed the ball back past Kevin Novak and across the face of the goal to where Suarez could pound home a point-blank shot.
"We're not going to get over the hump until we find ways to get points at the end of the game," Ellinger said. "Instead, we're finding ways to give points away at the end."
Real cobbled together a makeshift back line for the game. Eddie Pope, Danny Torres and Nelson Akwari were each unavailable for various injuries.
Ellinger was forced to start Douglas Sequeira in central defense, a move from his regular midfield position. Ellinger also started 17-year-old Besagno in central defense and placed Kevin Novak and Willis Forko as the fullbacks. Both Novak and Forko started the season playing with Real's reserve team.
The newly-crafted defense started slowly; in the second minute, Sequeira tried to clear the ball out of the box but instead gave it away to Juan Francisco Palencia. A through ball to Ante Razov and an eight-yard shot past Real goalie Scott Garlick had Chivas ahead 1-0.
But Real leveled matters in the 33rd minute when Jeff Cunningham scored Real's first goal at home in 316 minutes of play at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Chris Klein sent a free kick from midfield towards the left post to where Carey Talley was working for a point-blank header. Talley's position pulled the Chivas defense out of place, giving Jeff Cunningham an open look at the inside right netting. Cunningham's shot hit the mark.
"After the first 10 minutes, I thought we played pretty good from then on until that last little bit," Ellinger said. "Indecision, and the wrong decision at the right time."
Real's second half was clearly better than the first. Carey Talley hit a 37-yard shot inside the right post in the 55th minute to give Real a 2-1 lead; it was a highlight-reel goal, scored with an assist from Cunningham. It was Talley's first goal of the season and his first for Real.
Chivas came right back with a goal in the 59th minute, scored by Jonathan Bornstein with an assist from Razov. Bornstein received the ball, spun, got a good look and fired it in from 20 yards out.
Andy Williams also recorded his first goal of the season; Williams scored in the 74th minute after Cunningham held control on the right side and centered the ball to Jason Kreis. A pass laid back and a cracker of a shot later, and Real held a 3-2 lead.
"Great goals by us," Ellinger said. "It's a shame that we don't have three points to show for the goals that we scored today."
But Real could not hold on. Referee Mark Geiger called for five minutes of stoppage time; Talley had been injured in the opening minutes of the second half, and was carted off the field on a stretcher. The added time was just too much.
"It's hard," Ellinger said. "You work hard and you work hard for 90 minutes, and then its just that one second you lose concentration for, and it cost us the game; it's frustrating, but we've got to do better."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
