SANDY, Utah – Jamison Olave did his part to help Real Salt Lake compress the top four spots in the Western Conference standings in a 1-0 victory over Western Conference leaders FC Dallas on Saturday night.
After drawing four straight games at home, RSL have now won two in a row at Rio Tinto Stadium and remain unbeaten at home this year. As Olave showed by scoring a match winner for his second goal of the season in the 78th minute, waiting for the right moment can work out very well.
“They took the corner kick, and when I saw that I was late, I stayed back and it came straight to me and I scored,” Olave said.
RSL’s best chance of the night immediately preceded the goal as Joao Plata rocketed a shot that Dallas 'keeper Chris Seitz was only able to get a hand on to push over. Plata grabbed the ball and took a short corner with Javier Morales a few feet away. Morales sent the ball in and after it bounced off a Dallas defender it found the feet of Olave.
Olave sought out the near post and buried it in the upper corner for the only goal RSL would need.
With Aaron Maund and Justen Glad forming a solid partnership at center back, Olave has seen his time on the field diminish. Still, he kept at it.
“I know that I wasn't playing much,” Olave said. “I never stopped working. I knew the opportunity was around the corner because that's soccer and that's how it is. I'm still working and that [goal] is the result.”
The win moves RSL past LA into third place in the West and keeps pace with second-place Colorado. Real Salt Lake host Colorado on Friday and LA the week after.
“This game gave us a lot of confidence,” Olave said. “We know that Dallas has a very good team and Colorado and LA they play very well. We know with this result we can win those games and we know we have a spot in the playoffs at home if we're playing well and winning our games at home.”
As RSL push on through the fall, Saturday night was a good example of how they’re prepared to face the challenge of the Western Conference playoffs.
“Burrito, as we're walking out, said, ‘Play like it's a final,’” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said. “That's exactly what we did tonight, was battle. I thought our quality was there. We created a lot of chances. We were proactive and defensively. We were tough mentally and physically.”
