SALT LAKE CITY - For a second week running, the Real Salt Lake players and coaches felt neither elation nor frustration.
In the wake of Real's second consecutive tie, a 0-0 result against the Columbus Crew on Saturday, players looked for the positive aspects of earning only one point at home. It seemed the defense had an easier time finding good things to take away from the game.
"It's always a good feeling when you get the shutout," goalkeeper Nick Rimando said. "It's always looked at that the goalkeeper got the shutout, but you have to look at that everybody played well defensively tonight."
Last week, Real gave up a goal in the final minute of stoppage time, allowing FC Dallas to tie the game 2-2. That game was a boon for the offense; Saturday's game showed how Real's defense had sealed the cracks of the previous week.
"When the goals don't go in, the other team can't win," Rimando said. "The defense clicked today, the offense clicked last week, and next week hopefully we can get them both together."
Columbus kept Real on the defensive throughout the first half; the Crew took eight shots, while RSL fired four times. Eddie Pope came up big to preserve the tie in the 14th minute; Ned Grabavoy played the ball through to Jason Garey, who beat Rimando to the ball just inside the penalty area and found himself chasing a loose ball toward an empty net. But Pope sprinted back and knocked Garey's narrow-angle shot out of bounds.
"Eddie's experience ... it's just a different class; that's why he's the best defender we've ever produced," Real coach John Ellinger said.
Rimando was credited with five saves in the game; among them, a vital move in the 77th minute that both kept Grabavoy's shot out of the net and prevented any other Crew members to knock the cross in. Grabavoy turned the corner on Real's right defensive wing and shot through the penalty area, but Rimando was there.
"Nick is a great goalkeeper; he's so quick he comes out and cuts down the angle, and when he does that it takes a lot away from any kind of breakaway," Ellinger said. "Defensively, we played very well from start to finish, and I was pleased with that."
Real's starting lineup showed its endurance in the game. All 11 starters played the entire 90 minutes as Ellinger did not make any of three available substitutions.
"Who do you take out?" Ellinger asked. "You are watching the game and you know what you have on the bench, and you look in the 82nd minute and Freddy's (Adu) just done something good, and then in the 84th minute Mehdi (Ballouchy) does something good, then in the 85th minute Chris (Klein) does something good and in the 86th minute Jeff (Cunningham) does something good, so who do you take out."
Real's offense had picked up in the second half, and there seemed no reason to take anyone out.
"Even though you are at home, you don't take out a back and go to three in the back in a 0-0 game," Ellinger said. "It's not youth soccer, it's not high school soccer, you don't just make subs for the sake of making subs. They made subs because of fatigue and things like that, but our guys were still running strong."
Real took 12 shots in the second half to the Crew's four. Cunningham said the attitude of the team changed at halftime.
"The leaders of the team spoke up at halftime, and as a result guys came a little bit more focused, had determination, and we played a better second half," Cunningham said. "Now, we just need to put away the very few chances that we get."
Peter Richins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
