Real Salt Lake and the New England Revolution both saw winless streaks extended as the two teams played to a tame scoreless draw on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The home side created more scoring opportunities than they had in a long time, but despite having more of the play, they couldn't find a way past the visitors' back line. The result extended Real's winless streak to three games; the Revolution has now gone winless in seven games, but to be sure New England is pleased to gain a point on the road.
Both teams had their chances in the opening minutes. Real started in the third minute when Mehdi Ballouchy connected with Willis Forko; Forko worked it to the left of the penalty area, then sent a sharp cross along the ground looking for Atiba Harris. Harris, however, was a quarter step too slow.
The Revs' best chance of the entire half came in the 12th minute on a header from Taylor Twellman. Steve Ralston floated a cross into Twellman, whose shot was blocked by an RSL defender.
Real came close three times in an impressive first-half span. In the 17th minute, Harris worked it into the penalty area, then passed it back out to Jeff Cunningham who found Carey Talley straight out from goal. Talley's shot, however, flew past the left post.
In the 18th minute, Talley found Chris Klein to the right of the box. Klein sent a choice cross across the mouth of the goal, but Cunningham missed out on a certain goal when the ball went through his legs from almost on the line. Klein centered it again in the 20th minute, this time to Harris, but the first-year striker could not get a shot off.
Cunningham just missed in the 29th minute. The veteran and the rookie played off each other to give Cunningham a look, but the shot shaved the paint off the outside of the left post.
After the break, Real began its attack in the 51st minute. Klein sent another of his sharp crosses through the Revolution box, and Jason Kreis got his foot on the ball inside the goal area. But Kreis struck on the underside of the ball and sent his shot high over the crossbar.
Harris had a shot on goal in the 58th minute, created on a run along with Klein and Cunningham. But Real's spacing was off and Harris' shot was too weak and New England's Matt Reis handled it easily.
New England finally put its first shot on goal in the 61st minute when Shalrie Joseph sent a rocket right at the chest of Garlick. Garlick was able to deflect the missile, but the shot had too much momentum for him to control. Still, Real was able to clear it out.
The Revolution put Garlick to the test in the minutes after Joseph's shot. A strong corner kick in the 65th minute headed towards Twellman, but Garlick went high to pick the ball out of the air. In the 69th minute, New England sent a through-ball into the area looking for a point-blank shot, but Garlick smothered the pass to end the play.
With both teams trying to put an end to their streaks, play began to open up. A shot from Twellman in the 79th minute was stifled by two RSL defenders, leading to a counter. Klein again slipped through the Revolution defense and laid a pass off, but Cunningham's shot was corralled by Reis.
Nine minutes from the end, Real nearly grabbed all three points. Once again the chance fell to Cunningham, collecting a pass outside the right-hand corner of the penalty area. He ripped a drive that beat Reis, but banged off the face of the crossbar and deflected over the goal.
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
