we're not there yet, we have a way to go and we have to get better," Arena said. "The effort in Chicago last week and the effort this week was good. We can build on this."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the first time all season Arena ran out the same lineup he had in a previous match. After all the changes, having a consistent group could be a good sign for the Red Bulls coming down the stretch.
• "That is important but I think two games in a row doesn't do it unfortunately. It's just one of those odd years where we can't have the coordination to have everyone healthy at once. That's still part of the game, and there's nothing you can do about it, and we need to do the best we can," Arena said. "Over the next few weeks, we'll get healthier and we'll get some more continuity between us."
• As well, the match could have been a playoff preview. The teams are sitting second and third in the Eastern Conference, separated by eight points heading into the weekend, and their pairing could be all but set after this weekend's matches.
• "There is obviously a chance. We have four games left, and one and two in the conference are pretty obvious, whereas three and four and five are not. It's all mathematically possible for any of the four teams remaining to be three, four, or five," Arena said. " ... We have lost two tough games in this series. With the draw tonight, we have played tough, and I don't think walking off this field tonight, we are thinking we can't beat this team."
• A victory against Real and the right combination of results involving Chicago, Colorado and Columbus over the weekend could leave the Red Bulls on the precipice of qualifying for the postseason at the end of the weekend. With a win, New York would move to 41 points; if Chicago loses, and Colorado draws or loses, then each of those teams could do no better than reach 41 points.
• "The playoffs in this league, the opening rounds are very close, not much difference. We saw last year with the team we had, I would say it isn't at the level of the team we have this year, but we had a chance at the end of that series," Arena said. "Right now, our focus is to qualify for the playoffs, we're not there yet, we have a way to go and we have to get better. The effort in Chicago last week and the effort this week was good, and we can build on this."
• In the starting lineup for a second consecutive match, his first two MLS starts, Francis Doe certainly made an impact, scoring his first goal for the first equalizer and winning a head ball for Juan Pablo Angel to finish for the second.
• "Right now, I'm getting better. I came from Greece and it had been four months since I didn't play soccer. ... I saw the playing time coming. I was playing 20 minutes and making some impact so I knew I was going to be one day in the first 11. Getting in the first 11 is a competition because we have a lot of great players; it depends on the hard work," Doe said. Said Arena: "He played well tonight. He's a dangerous attacking player who is finding his way with our team and finding his fitness. He had a big goal tonight, and he had some decent chances. He also helped create chances tonight."
• Angel's equalizer, his 16th goal of the year, tied him with fellow Colombian Adolfo Valencia for most goals scored in a single season for the club, set in 2000. "I'm happy about it but I'm more happy the goal helped us to tie the game up today," Angel said.
REAL SALT LAKE Real Salt Lake won for the third time in their last seven games - after winning two over the first five months - getting the game's lone goal in a 1-0 victory against the Colorado Rapids at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the third Rocky Mountain Cup meeting of the season. RSL are still in 11th place in the MLS overall table, two points ahead now of both Toronto FC and the LA Galaxy, with 23 points and four points left to play, nine points out of the final playoff spot.
LAST MATCH
• Real Salt Lake were winless in their last four games, though were coming off a dramatic midweek 2-2 with the Los Angeles Galaxy, while the Colorado Rapids were winless in their last three after hauling themselves back into the playoff picture with three wins on the trot.
• In a driving rain on the Wasatch Front, Real took the lead at the half-hour mark as one of the players who made the Rocky Mountain competition a true rivalry played his part.
• Kyle Beckerman, reviled by the RSL fans in his days with the Rapids before his trade to the Utah club earlier this year, found Chris Brown free on the left. Brown took a shot that Colorado 'keeper Bouna Coundoul was able to get down and parry, but the rebound came straight out to Kyle Brown, and he knocked it back home for the eventual winner.
• The Rapids came close in the dying minutes when Jose Cancela sent a long free kick on goal that RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando couldn't hold. But with a pair of Rapids attackers swinging, he was able to knock it away. The RSL win leveled the season series for the Rocky Mountain Cup with the teams set to meet in the regular season finale.
• RSL head coach Jason Kreis made five changes to the team that settled for a 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy three nights earlier at home. Chris Lancos and Matias Mantilla came into the back four for Eddie Pope and Jean-Martial Kipré, Atiba Harris came in for the suspended Carey Talley, and Chris Brown and Kyle Brown entered the attack in place of Alecko Eskandarian and Robbie Findley.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando - Chris Lancos, Matias Mantilla, Ritchie Kotschau, Chris Wingert - Kyle Beckerman, Atiba Harris - Chris Brown, Andy Williams (Carey Talley 46), Kyle Brown (Javier Morales 62) - Yura Movsisyan (Fabian Espindola 73). Substitutes Not Used: Robbie Findley, Willis Forko, Eddie Pope, Chris Seitz
TEAM NEWS
• With their playoff hopes getting slimmer by the game, Kreis wanted to put emphasis on winning the Rocky Mountain Cup. Each team now has won one game, with one draw, in the rivalry series, and it will all be decided in the season finale at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
• "We tried to stress to the players over the last couple of days that this was something for them to take away from the season. This is a chance to win a trophy. I don't believe this club has won a trophy yet, so this a chance to win something to put in the trophy case in the offseason, all the way up until next year," Kreis said. "I do believe it's important, I do believe the guys took the message and put it out there tonight."
• For Kyle Brown, the goal was the second of his professional career, after scoring Sept. 8 in the 4-3 loss at Houston Dynamo. It was his third start this season; he made 12 appearances (two starts) in his rookie season last year with the New England Revolution.
• "Kyle is a player that we feel has really started to come into some confidence. He's started to come into some form. We've noticed that in the trainings and in the reserve games, so we have been wanting to give him a real opportunity," Kreis said. "Tonight he wasn't in the starting lineup, but Fabian Espíndola showed up with some pain in his groin. So credit to Kyle, because that's not the easiest thing to do, to show up at the stadium thinking you're not starting and then being thrust into the starting lineup an hour before kickoff."
• Kyle Beckerman said the RSL fans had taken some time to warm up to him - especially after some strong comments following the first two Rocky Mountain Cup matches this season. With Eddie Pope on the bench, Kreis handed Beckerman the captain's armband for the game.
• "I didn't need any more motivation, but for Jason to give me that, it felt really good," Beckerman said. "I thank him for that; it was a good notion on his part, but there was no need for more motivation for that game." Said Kreis: "It would be hard for me to place this game above any of the others, because for me and the entire staff, we feel Kyle has played at that kind of level every game. Tonight was fantastic, but all of them have been fantastic."
• As well, it was the first match against his former club for Chris Wingert. "I like the guys on their team and I knew they were going to come out and battle too. It always feels good to get a win against your former team, but at the same time there was a lot else at stake, not just the fact that I used to play on their team. We needed a win badly, and also the Rocky Mountain Cup is on the line. It was huge for us and it felt great," he said.
• There has been a bit of a turnaround for Real over the last seven matches. They have taken points from five games (three wins, two draws), scored 12 goals, and had shutouts in two of the last three games.
• "It's always good to play for something, and the way our year is going, we needed that win bad," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "The guys have been working hard, and everybody wants the points. We haven't been that lucky the last two games, and tonight, especially against Colorado, a special game for a couple of these guys, we got the win and that's what we needed." Said Kreis: "I'm running out of words [for Rimando] -- stellar, fantastic. He saved another game for us, saved two points tonight for us."
