Real Salt Lake dropped the second leg of their four-game road trip with a 4-3 loss to Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. A second-half rally pulled RSL within one goal of the tie, but wasn't quite enough to overcome the defending MLS Cup champions.
Coming off a 2-1 road victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy and having already notched one victory against the recently faltering Dynamo this season, Real Salt Lake had every reason to be optimistic going into the match. But a hat trick by Dynamo forward Nate Jaqua helped Houston to only its second win since the All-Star break.
After finishing the first half down 2-1, Real Salt Lake allowed two goals in the first 13 minutes after the intermission to fall behind 4-1. A valiant effort over the last half hour of the match, including forward Kyle Brown's first career MLS goal, pulled RSL within one goal of the tie, but fell just short.
Houston jumped to an early lead with Jaqua's first goal of the night in the sixth minute. The striker was on the receiving end of a cross by midfielder Corey Ashe, slipping behind Salt lake defender Eddie Pope to touch the ball to the back of the net. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando had no real shot at the save, as the cross came in too fast for him to react and position himself in front of Jaqua.
Real midfielder Javier Morales had an opportunity to even the score two minutes later with a run to the middle of the penalty box. Morales had a step on his defender and a good angle to slide the ball past Dynamo goalkeeper Pat Onstad, but slipped on the soggy grass before he had a chance to launch the shot.
Forward Fabian Espindola pulled Real Salt Lake even with a goal in the 18th minute. Espindola forced his way past Houston defender Richard Mulrooney, getting free to shoot only a few yards in front of the end line and well to the left of the goal. His shot was angled all the way across the mouth of the goal, finding the side of the net just inside the back post.
Ten minutes later, Houston defender Eddie Robinson gave Dynamo the lead again by out-leaping the Real Salt Lake defense to head Mulrooney's free kick inside the near post.
The second half began much the same as the first, with Ashe again crossing the ball into the penalty area for Jaqua, who touched the ball behind Rimando for the score. The goal was almost identical to Jaqua's effort in the first half.
In the 58th minute, Ashe and Jaqua combined for their third and final goal of the evening. This time, Ashe launched a high cross that met a leaping Jaqua about 10 yards out in front of the back post. Jaqua header was aimed towards Rimando's feet, sending the ball bouncing past the 'keeper for the goal.
After Jaqua completed his hat trick, the Real Salt Lake offense went into overdrive, trying to imitate last Sunday's comeback win against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
RSL midfielder Carey Talley started his team's late rally with a goal in the 69th minute off a corner kick from Morales. Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad came out into the box on the kick in an attempt to cut off the cross before any Salt Lake attackers could reach it for a shot. Talley cut in front of Onstad and leapt above the Dynamo defense to head the ball towards the near post and into the back of the unprotected net.
In the 83rd minute, Brown put Real Salt Lake within one goal of tying the match. RSL defender Jean-Martial Kipre dribbled around Ashe and fired a shot that was deflected by a Dynamo defender. Brown collected the rebound near the penalty spot and put his shot just inside the near post and out of reach of a diving Onstad.
Feeling the momentum turning in Real Salt Lake's direction, Houston spent the remainder of the match playing keep-away, successfully running out the clock before RSL was able to launch another shot.
Real Salt Lake travels to New York on to take on the Red Bulls on Wed., Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. MT.
Lucas Ogden-Davis is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
