Real Salt Lake were not about to let this opportunity slip through their fingers.
Entering Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League game with three points from their Group G opener, Real Salt Lake chose to be strategic against Salvadoran club Santa Tecla. Even though John Stertzer was ejected late in the game after receiving a second yellow card, RSL held together and earned a 0-0 draw to move into first place in their group.
“We knew that we had two home games coming up versus these two teams,” RSL goalkeeper Jeff Attinella said after the game. “Our plan is to go get three points in both of those, and we came down here and did our job. Now we’re ready to go back to Salt Lake and win those games when they come up.”
It would have been easy for RSL to get ahead of themselves. They were in the driver's seat and about to face a young club from a lesser-known league. With a win against Santa Tecla, they could have practically booked their place in the knockout rounds. RSL instead made the decision to rest the majority of their regular starters for league play, knowing they have two Champions League home games coming up.
It looks like it might have been the right decision. There were a total of 38 fouls called during a rough-and-tumble match that failed to produce much rhythm or chances. RSL midfielder Luke Mulholland suffered a laceration in his mouth that kept opening up throughout the match, and many players were run ragged on the small artificial surface in El Salvador.
"We've had two CONCACAF games on the road with two shutouts and four points.” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said after the match. "It puts us in a really good position to go home and take care of business. [Santa Tecla] fought extremely hard, had a lot of movement off the ball, but I thought our team stood tall and probably at the end of the night, they had the better chances of the game,"
Santa Tecla put five shots on frame, but only one troubled Attinella.
Gerson Mayen, a member of Chivas USA from 2008-11, struck a free kick in the 46th minute that flew dangerously toward goal. Mayen’s curling shot sailed toward the top left corner, but Attinella was quick to his right, diving just in time to punch away the effort.
RSL had several of their own chances throughout the game but were not sharp enough to put them away, and the sides eventually settled for one point each. RSL still have an outside chance at making the MLS Cup Playoffs, and with the LA Galaxy visiting Utah on Saturday (9:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE), Cassar chose to split the difference.
“I think at this point, every game is important,” Attinella said. “We’re trying to make a push for the playoffs and we’re trying to advance out of our group. We get paid to play this game, so every game is important, and we want to win everything that we do.”
