SALT LAKE CITY - Real Salt Lake needed more out of Wednesday's Fourth of July contest against Toronto FC. But in a game that saw tempers flare, two penalty kicks and an emotional return to Rice-Eccles Stadium by Jeff Cunningham, the visitors earned their first road victory in club history as Toronto earned a 2-1 win.
Real controlled the run of play in the opening minutes; the strong passing and aggressive defending led to a shot off the right post in the sixth minute. Mehdi Ballouchy played a beautiful ball through to Robbie Findley, who took a dribble and shot to the far post. The ball bounced off the inside of the post, then came out the other side behind Toronto 'keeper Sam Reynolds.
Carey Talley made Toronto nervous again in the 12th minute with a long-distance shot that Reynolds knocked high and over the crossbar. Inside the first 13 minutes, Real earned five corner kicks.
But it was Toronto that scored the first goal of the game in the 19th minute. A flick-on header from Danny Dichio took an odd bounce on the artificial turf and it fell to Cunningham in perfect position, beyond the final defender at the top of the penalty box with only Real goalie Nick Rimando to beat.
Cunningham, who was dealt to Toronto from Real in mid-May, shot the ball against the right post, but this ball sailed straight across the goal line and bounced off the left post and went in.
After the goal, Cunningham celebrated by blowing kisses towards the RSL bench and the fans.
As the first half wore on, players on both sides started to let tempers flare. At one point, Real's Jack Stewart got shoved out of bounds from behind, and responded by throwing the ball at the offending Toronto player.
Moments later, Carl Robinson got tangled up with Alecko Eskandarian a couple of times right in front of referee Jair Marrufo. The pair held and shoved each other, but no call was made.
Then, in the 44th minute, Eskandarian had a call go his way when Jim Brennan pulled him down with both hands from behind in the penalty area. Marrufo awarded Real a penalty kick, and Eskandarian scored from the spot by shooting to his right while Reynolds dove to the left.
Tempers boiled over before the teams went into halftime all level. Cunningham and Andy Williams shoved off on each other enough in the 45th minute to force their teammates into the scrum, trying to separate the two. Cunningham was shown a yellow card by Marrufo, then the half ended moments later.
Shortly after the beginning of the second half, Real's Atiba Harris ran roughshod over Cunningham. Toronto kept possession, so no call was made, but Cunningham limped off the field in the 49th minute after writhing on the field for a moment. Andy Welsh replaced Cunningham on the field.
Real showed some extra patience in the opening minutes of the second half, trying to hold possession in midfield a touch longer rather than pushing hard on offense. Toronto made the most of it, forcing most of the action to remain in Real's defensive half.
Still, Real had its shots. Carey Talley took a long shot from above the penalty area that shaved the top off the crossbar. And Eskandarian had a chance in the 68th minute on a breakaway in the box, but he was kicked in the leg as he wound up for the shot and Reynolds made an easy save.
Real coach Jason Kreis began making changes in the 70th minute. Kreis replaced Findley with Kyle Brown, a move that seemed to pay off right away as Brown had a fine run at the goal. Then, Kreis replaced Andy Williams with Jamie Watson, looking to ramp up the pace of his offensive players.
But Toronto found the net in the 79th minute with the second penalty kick of the game. Jean-Martial Kipre pulled Collin Samuel down from behind in the penalty area, and after Marrufo again whistled for a spot kick, Samuel shot the ball into the right side of the goal as Rimando dove to the left to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.
Watson brought a real dose of energy to the Real attack when he came on, first hitting a curving left-footer from the top of the box to just six inches outside the left post.
Toronto's Reynolds was carried off the field in the 85th minute after grabbing his leg in pain. On came goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic, who was replaced in TFC's last match by Reynolds, who is a league pool goalkeeper assigned to whichever team needs him for "extreme hardship." TFC's first-choice goalkeeper, Greg Sutton, is out with a concussion.
But before Djekanovic had even seen the ball, Watson nearly brought RSL level. He ran onto a long ball behind the TFC defense played by Ritchie Kotschau, only for his lofting shot to bounce off the top of the crossbar.
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
