Hitting the road over the weekend yielded a familiar result for Real Salt Lake. Once again, RSL left Los Angeles with a loss to Chivas USA -- falling 3-1 to the Red-and-White behind solid performances from ex-RSL players Atiba Harris and Alecko Eskandarian.
This setback to Chivas, however, does not feel like the early season blowout RSL suffered last spring. Several RSL coaches and players walked away feeling like they had a legitimate shot at least coming away with a tie up until Eskandarian's insurance goal in stoppage time.
The chances for game-changing goals materialized, but RSL was unable to finish off those opportunities.
"There's a thin line between winning and losing," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "Right now, we're finding a way to lose. We just need to turn the tide and get a bit of luck. It's not on our side right now."
That seemingly elusive change in fortune might lie in something as simple as Kenny Deuchar's continued progression.
Deuchar made his first start in an MLS game against Chivas last Saturday and the results were about as good as RSL could have hoped for. The Scottish striker put his club back in the game, scoring on a header off a free kick from Javier Morales in the 57th minute.
His goal seemed to revive the RSL attack in the final 30 minutes. Fellow forward Yura Movsisyan made his presence known after coming on as a 60th-minute substitute. Movsisyan nearly tied it up three minutes later when he fired a shot from 12 yards out off a poor clearance attempt. The shot was on frame, but Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan recovered in time to bat the ball away.
Morales also nearly scored in the 65th minute when he sent a header off Chris Wingert's cross into the box just over the crossbar. Deuchar had one last chance at the elusive tying goal himself in the 88th minute but Guzan turned his shot into another timely save.
Kreis said that Deuchar's energy helped set up a number of those late-game scoring chances.
"Obviously getting the goal was good," Kreis said. "It was also good what he was doing for the other players. (He) knocked down a lot in and around the box, laid down some chances for some other guys."
Kreis would have liked to see more shots on frame from Deuchar and others but was pleased to see the offense at least creating some chances for itself.
The height of the 6-foot-3 Deuchar created plenty of issues for Chivas on both ends of the field. He seemed to have little trouble winning balls or disrupting possession.
"Anything in the air was contested by Kenny," Beckerman said. "He was a real pain in the neck for them."
For his part, Deuchar felt more involved in the flow of the game during the second half against Chivas. The first half, he said, was marked by him trying to feel out his teammates and get into the flow of the game.
"I'm more pleased probably with my second half performance," Deuchar said. "But that was always going to be the case, that it may take a wee while to settle in with guys, obviously, with it being my first start."
That settling in period is not complete, yet, but Deuchar definitely thinks things are going in the right direction.
He believes the coaches are doing what they can to instill good habits and a bigger emphasis on teamwork among the starting 11. Deuchar sees several positives from RSL's first two games. The combinations are there on offense and defense. It has come down to simple luck, which has not been on the side of RSL thus far.
"We were unlucky in the first game," Deuchar said. "We should be sitting with at least three points. You can see goals change games, don't they? Chivas took their chances well and we didn't."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
