There are no new tricks with Real Salt Lake and the LA Galaxy, two teams who are meeting for the fourth time in the last six postseasons.
This was a slightly different script, though. When these two teams meet it's usually even, two prizefighters who just hammer away at each other 'til the bell rings. Not today, though - today RSL absolutely put the hammer down, largely outplaying LA for the duration.
But they didn't find their goal, having to settle for a 0-0 draw.
Here are three thoughts on the game:
1. RSL change the shape of LA's game
The Galaxy led the league in chances, chances from the run of play, passes attempted in the attacking half, and pass completion percentage in the final third. RSL said "nope!" to all of that:
To get more specific: LA completed 75.82 percent of their passes in the attacking half on the season, best in the league. RSL cut that number down to 61 percent. In the attacking third, LA completed 70.11 percent – again the best in the league. They were down at just 54 percent on Saturday night at Rio Tinto.
This was a defensive masterclass from a team that's made a habit of exactly that in the postseason. Part of that is just talent, but part of it is the advantage of continuity. Goalkeeper Nick Rimando and his entire backline, with Kyle Beckerman at d-mid in front of them, have been together as a unit for three years. They've made just one change – Chris Schuler coming in for Jamison Olave - in the last five seasons.
"Chemistry" is a word that gets thrown around a lot, maybe not as thoughtfully as it should be (I'm as guilty of that as anyone).
In this instance, however, you should feel free to go on about RSL's defensive chemistry 'til you're blue in the face. They were six guys sharing one soccer brain out there, and it was beautiful to watch.
2. Can the game be small?
While LA weren't quite as sharp as the Claret-and-Cobalt, they still did fairly well at forcing the hosts just a bit wider than they wanted to be, as well as cutting down on looks over the top.
The one exception to that came midway through the first half, and let's be up front about it: the Galaxy were bailed out by a bad offside call:
That build-up was classic RSL, as they used the ball to drag the LA defense to the sideline, sucking them higher and higher up the pitch before hitting the telling ball over the top.
Given how great Jaime Penedo was on the night it's far from a guarantee that Joao Plata would have finished off the play. But... this is the play that the gameplan was built for, and it was a shame to see it whistled dead after the AR's flag.
As usual, RSL set up shop down that left-hand side, and generated most of their attacking thrust there:
Omar Gonzalez had a particularly tough time of it, and Bruce Arena will have to think about making sure Dan Gargan stays a little deeper and more connected in the second leg. It's hard for the Galaxy to give up their overlapping fullbacks, but it's harder still to ask Gonzalez to defend the likes of Plata, Javier Morales or even Alvaro Saborio out in space.
3. Galaxy blow their chance
Even under constant pressure, this is still the Galaxy, still a team with nearly as much continuity and chemistry as RSL. And no matter how deep you push them, how far on their back foot they have to defend, they're still going to be a threat in the open field.
Or not:
As soon as that break-out started, my wife said "this is going to be a goal." We were both stunned and silent afterward when it wasn't.
Credit to Chris Wingert for taking the correct angle and capitalizing on Robbie Keane's sloppy touch. Credit, as well, to Luis Gil for his dead sprint in recovery, which closed down one more lane to the back post.
Most of all, though: credit to both teams for getting out of there with the scoreless draw. As Landon Donovan said afterward, the most important thing is to not lose. Because of that, these two teams - who have gone back-and-forth so many times over the years - have it all left to play for next weekend.
