The Real Salt Lake team of the first half Wednesday night looked nothing like the side that had been on the field so many times this year.
Not only because of the new starting lineup, but also because of the wildly aggressive attack that put the home team far enough ahead to earn Real their third victory of the season, a 3-1 triumph against the Kansas City Wizards at Rice-Eccles Stadium. With the win, Real climbs out of last place in the Western Conference standings and ahead of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Real coach Jason Kreis took a bit of a gamble for Wednesday's game, revamping his lineup and giving all three of the team's newly-acquired Argentinians the start. It paid off in short order, as Javier Morales and Matias Mantilla combined for a goal in the first minute of play.
Fifteen seconds after the kickoff, Real's Kyle Beckerman took a hard shot on goal that Kansas City goalie Kevin Hartman forced wide of the goal. On the resulting corner kick, Morales sent an ideal ball through the goal area curving towards the far post. Mantilla got a head on it, bounced it off the turf and into the goal.
The score -- 40 seconds into the match -- set a new record for Real, eclipsing the record for earliest goal in a game set by Brian Dunseth in 2005. It was the second quickest goal scored in a game this year (RSL allowed a goal to Chivas USA's Maykel Galindo after 28 seconds), and tied the 18th-quickest in MLS history.
Four Real players who had seen starts in recent games were left off the field at the starting whistle. Forward Robbie Findley, who has both of Real's game-winning goals this season, remained on the bench in favor of veteran Chris Brown. Chris Wingert was left off the starting list as Kreis remade his defense with Mantilla on the field, and Andy Williams was replaced by Morales in the midfield. Fabian Espindola, the third of Real's valuable Argentinian imports, had a place in the midfield as Nathan Sturgis was unavailable because of an injury.
Espindola also made his mark for Real before the end of the first half. In the 42nd minute, Alecko Eskandarian intercepted a ball in midfield and sent it over to Espindola near the left wing. Espindola had acres of space to run into, and he capped off his attack with a hard shot from inside the area past Hartman inside the near post for a 2-0 lead.
The first-half stats reflected Real's aggressive dominance in the early going. Real out-shot the Wizards 10-4, and put six on goal as opposed to Kansas City's one.
Still, Real subsituted Morales with Williams at halftime as a precaution; Morales was kneed in the back during the first half and Kreis replaced him, taking no chances with his team's four-game string of road games coming up.
Kansas City played with more life in the opening minutes of the second half. In the 52nd minute, Sasha Victorine had a point-blank header on Real's goal while unmarked inside the six-yard box, but Nick Rimando made a flying save to preserve the shutout.
Real also had their moments. In the 53rd minute, Beckerman drew four defenders over to the left side of the penalty area before shooting. The ball deflected off of Kansas City's Jimmy Conrad and went right to Eskandarian just above the middle of the area -- his shot looked good, but instead flew over the crossbar.
In the 55th minute, Kreis replaced Eddie Pope with Chris Wingert; it was another calculated move, doubtless considering the upcoming string of road games.
But with Kansas City finding a way to take the ball away from Real, the Wizards were looking dangerous after the move. Kansas City's offensive prowess paid off in the 69th minute when Sasha Victorine flicked a through ball with his heel over to Eddie Johnson, who kicked hit a right-footed side volley on the turn with his back to the goal and knocked it inside the far left post to make the score 2-1.
Protecting the slim lead into the 85th minute, Real had yet to mount any real attacks. But Williams had the photo-finish goal of the game after Atiba Harris won the ball in the midfield and slid it over to Williams. He took a step over the center stripe and, seeing Hartman had strayed off his line, drove a high ball into the goal as the K.C. goalkeeper was left no chance for the final scoreline.
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
