SANDY, Utah -- Another slew of missed chances made a big difference as Real Salt Lake again dropped points at home in a 1-1 draw against D.C. United on Friday night.
“This [tie] actually feels like we got trashed,” RSL forward Yura Movsisyan said following the game.
What looked to be a solid performance from start to finish unraveled on Salt Lake after the 87th minute as United stretched the RSL defense and caused trouble that ended in a 92nd-minute equalizer courtesy of Jared Jeffrey off a corner kick.
“There are certain times in a game that you really have to make sure you're good,” Real Salt Lake head coach Jeff Cassar said. “We had a poor clearance that put us under pressure and they earned that [goal] from nothing."
120 minutes on the legs for nine of Friday’s starters from Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup penalty shootout loss could have been a contributing factor.
But Cassar insisted the issue was defensive choices by his players in the dying minutes and on the corner especially, rather than fatigue or lineup decisions.
“We got a little bit sloppy with the choices we made to finish out the game,” Cassar said. “We could have done a better job holding up. We should have never been that stretched towards the end like that.”
On the offensive side, Salt Lake created plenty of chances, but could only get one past D.C. United’s Bill Hamid, who had an excellent performance. The majority of the game, RSL was in control, but they didn’t close it out.
All in all, the theme for the team after the game was not picking up a point, but dropping two.
“One point is not enough,” Movsisyan said. “This is going to come back to bite us at the end. These are the points we need to get."
Cassar warned that he’s starting to sound like a broken record in that RSL are playing well, but not doing everything needed to get the wanted results. Since returning home after a six-week period on the road, RSL have won once at home and tied Portland, Seattle and Wilmington in league and Open Cup play after starting the season 4-0-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
“We have to make sure we win the game. Finish off the game. Close games out,” Cassar said.
