qualifying for a first-ever spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs when they play host to FC Dallas at Rio Tinto Stadium. An RSL victory, and the failure of the Colorado Rapids to win, and the Utah club will have its first postseason berth. FC Dallas is trying to return to the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season, but begins the penultimate weekend a point out of the final wild card spot.
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Corey Rockwell; JAR (opposite): David Bragg; 4th: Tyler Ploeger
MLS Career: 162 games; FC/gm: 26.5; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 43; pens: 33
INJURY REPORT: REAL SALT LAKE - QUESTIONABLE: DF Nikolas Besagno (L first toe contusion), FW Fabian Espíndola (R severe ankle sprain); PROBABLE: DF Nat Borchers (cervical strain), MF Nathan Sturgis (L hamstring strain) ... FC DALLAS - OUT: DF Brek Shea (R knee); FW Jeff Rowland (R knee); MF David Wagenfuhr (concussion)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: DAL: Andre Rocha (caution accumulation; through Oct. 19)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: RSL: Kyle Beckerman, Ian Joy ... DAL: Jeff Cunningham
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: RSL: Nat Borchers, Kenny Deuchar, Dema Kovalenko, Javier Morales, Chris Wingert ... DAL: Pablo Ricchetti
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (13 meetings): Real Salt Lake 3 wins, 15 goals ... FC Dallas 9 wins, 22 goals ... Ties 1
AT SALT LAKE (7 meetings): Real Salt Lake 3 wins, 10 goals ... FC Dallas 3 wins, 9 goals ... Ties 1
• This is the third and final league meeting on the season between the teams, the second to be played at Real Salt Lake, but the first at Rio Tinto Stadium. The teams have split their two meetings thus far, each winning at home.
• FC Dallas won the season series a season ago, winning the final two meetings between the teams, including one at each stadium, after claiming a last-gasp draw in the season opener at Rice-Eccles.
• FC Dallas have won all six home meetings between the teams, outscoring RSL 13-5 in the games played in north Texas.
• Coaches record: Jason Kreis vs. DAL: P4 W1 L3 D0 ... Schellas Hyndman v RSL: first game
THIS SEASON (MLS):
5/10: RSL 2, DAL 1 (Morales 28; Beckerman 73 - Cooper 56)
5/24: DAL 2, RSL 1 (Oduro 83, 91+ - Espindola 69)
• Real Salt Lake won their first game against FC Dallas since Sept. 16, 2006, a span of four games without a victory, in a 2-1 triumph on May 10 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
• RSL took advantage of a gift to open the scoring in the 28th minute. A long ball downfield was cleared by FCD goalkeeper Dario Sala -- but it bounced first off defender Drew Moor, then Andre Rocha. It fell to Javier Morales, who had only to roll it into the unguarded goal from close range.
• The Hoops pulled level 11 minutes after the halftime interval. Andre Rocha sent a long ball down the right flank for Kenny Cooper, and after the big striker controlled the pass and cut in toward goal, he hammered a drive that flew over Nick Rimando at the near post and off the underside of the crossbar for his fifth goal on the campaign.
• But Real went back ahead in the 73rd minute. Andy Williams sent a perfectly weighted chip over the FCD back three that came down just inside the area. Kyle Beckerman had raced past the defense and poked the floating ball first-time through Dario Sala's legs for the eventual game-winner.
• FC Dallas came back to win in Marco Ferruzzi's debut as interim head coach, getting two late goals from Dominic Oduro for a 2-1 win against Real Salt Lake on May 24 at Pizza Hut Park.
• Before the first half was out, both teams were a man down. RSL defender Ian Joy was sent off in the 38th minute, after the second of two bookable offenses in 20 minutes. But just before the break, FCD defender Bobby Rhine was also shown red after an altercation with RSL's Javier Morales.
• The visitors took the lead in the 69th minute. Racing to receive a return pass from Morales in the left side of the area, Fabian Espindola sailed past a defender and drove an angled shot past FCD goalkeeper Dario Sala inside the far post.
• Dominic Oduro scored his first goal of the season the week before, and after coming on as a substitute, he again came through. In the 83rd minute, Drew Moor floated a long ball from well out on the right, and the Ghanaian rose up to head it over RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando.
• Then a minute into stoppage time, Andre Rocha split the RSL defense with a ball into the box. Oduro collected it before cutting to his right to escape his marker, then set himself and curled a shot past Rimando inside the right post for the winner.
• Here's Ferruzzi's team (3-4-1-2): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Aaron Pitchkolan - Bobby Rhine, Pablo Ricchetti (Juan Toja 79), Marcelo Saragosa, Anthony Wallace (Arturo Alvarez 69) - Andre Rocha - Abe Thompson (Dominic Oduro 65), Kenny Cooper. Substitutes Not Used: Eric Avila, Andrew Daniels, Michael Dello-Russo, Mike Graczyk
• Here's Kreis's team (4-3-1-2): Nick Rimando - Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave (Matias Mantilla 77), Ian Joy - Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Beckerman, Andy Williams - Javier Morales - Kenny Deuchar (Fabian Espindola 54), Robbie Findley (Kenny Cutler 46). Substitutes Not Used: Matias Cordoba, Dustin Kirby, Tino Nunez, Kyle Reynish
REAL SALT LAKE
Real Salt Lake opened their new home and stayed on the verge of clinching a first-ever playoff spot, coming back for a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls on MLS Primetime Thursday. RSL has 36 points from 28 matches and still sits in third place in the Western Conference, a point ahead of FC Dallas and two ahead of the Colorado Rapids with two games to play.
LAST MATCH
• A sellout crowd was on hand at Rio Tinto Stadium to celebrate the opening of the seventh soccer-specific stadium in the league. RSL were coming off a two-game road swing where they had taken a rare four points, while the Red Bulls had lost three games on the trot, conceding 11 goals in that run.
• The honor of first goal scored in RSL's new home went to the visitors. Seth Stammler drove a corner kick goalward, but Kyle Beckerman was stationed right on the goal line to head it away. But it went only as far as the edge of the area, where Dave van den Bergh hammered the rebound back inside the right-hand post for his seventh goal on the year.
• Ten minutes later, Real finally gave the home fans something to celebrate. Also from a corner kick, from Javier Morales, the service took a bounce in the area and fell to defender Jamison Olave, who was able to get a touch onto it and loop it over New York goalkeeper Jon Conway for the equalizer.
• RSL head coach Jason Kreis made one change to the team that played to a 2-2 draw the weekend before at New England. Jamison Olave returned from suspension and Robbie Russell moved into the midfield with Andy Williams suspended.
• Here's Kreis's team (4-3-1-2): Nick Rimando - Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Ian Joy (Kenny Deuchar 91+) - Robbie Russell (Robbie Findley 46), Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson - Javier Morales - Clint Mathis (Dema Kovalenko 84), Yura Movsisyan. Substitutes Not Used: Tony Beltran, Kenny Cutler, David Horst, Chris Seitz
• "It was a fantastic experience out there tonight, and a terrific atmosphere for a big game. I think, maybe, it was too good of an atmosphere, really, for what we saw out there because the quality of the soccer, I think, was a little bit lower than what we're used to seeing over the past few weeks. I think our guys looked very, very nervous," Kreis said.
TEAM NEWS
• After the 1-1 draw to open Rio Tinto Stadium, home teams are now 3-1-3 in their first league match when opening a soccer-specific stadium. RSL will also be looking to better the mark of teams in the second game in their new ground, where they are 3-2-1. When Dave van den Bergh scored the first goal at Rio Tinto, it was the first time the first goal in a new stadium came from the visitors.
• "We just have to bear down and focus on the fact we've got to play better soccer next week," Kreis said. "Hopefully all the nerves and the adjustments will be out of us by then and we can just focus on playing good soccer."
• Still, RSL could be in possession of the club's first-ever playoff spot by the end of the weekend. With a victory against Dallas, and the failure of the Colorado Rapids to defeat Chivas USA, RSL will have secured third place in the Western Conference.
• "We weren't very happy with our performance in the first half, so I'd like to think that we can come out and play better. I think that Dallas, although you never know, will probably have a similar mindset as New York did so they might be difficult to break down," said Chris Wingert. "We're just going to have to be a little sharper than we were."
• While RSL has finally had some success recently on the road - a win and two ties, and eight goals scored, in their last four road games - that hasn't carried over at home. RSL has scored just one goal in their last two home games, despite holding the second-best home record in the league.
• "This was one of the games we planned on being a definite three points," said Kyle Beckerman. "With three games to go, [if] you win tonight, maybe next week and we're in, but we're going to have to fight some more."
• "I don't think we moved the ball well enough, or quick enough. I didn't think we were sharp enough with the ball. The movement within the whole team was not what it needs to be to win games. That being said, against a potent New York team, we were still good enough and we still had chances," said Will Johnson. "We still don't take our chances as well as we need to."
FC DALLAS
For the second game running, FC Dallas got a late penalty kick to pull into a draw, this time a 2-2 result with Toronto FC on Saturday evening at Pizza Hut Park. FCD is still a point out of a playoff spot, with 35 points from 28 matches, behind Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference and both Kansas City and New York in the wild card race.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were unbeaten in four in a row, playing their final home game of the season, while Toronto FC had kept their playoff dreams intact the week before, winning for the first time in nearly two months.
• The Hoops took the lead into the break after Kenny Cooper's opportunistic goal in the 34th minute. Adrian Serioux's long throw-in from the right touchline bounced around the goalmouth before Cooper latched onto it, and he stroked it home from a tight angle for the opener.
• But TFC grabbed control of the match in the second half, and pulled level in the 72nd minute. Also from a long throw-in, this time from Marvell Wynne at nearly the identical spot as Serioux, Danny Dichio flicked a near-post header back toward the spot, and Marco Velez side-volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
• Then two minutes from full time, Wynne put TFC into the lead. Chad Barrett sprung the U.S. international with a perfectly weighted, defense-splitting through ball, and Wynne curled it around an advancing Dario Sala from well outside the area for his second goal on the year.
• But the game was far from over. From a free kick beyond the left corner of the TFC area, the ball was swung and referee Mark Geiger spotted TFC substitute Julius James pulling back on Serioux's jersey, awarding a penalty kick. Cooper converted the first attempt, but it was disallowed for encroachment into the area. On the second try, TFC goalkeeper Greg Sutton guessed correctly, but Cooper still slipped under his hand for the leveler, his 18th goal on the season, tying the FC Dallas club record held by Jason Kreis.
• FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman made no changes to the team that came back for a 1-1 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes at home the week before.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-3-1-2): Dario Sala - Adrian Serioux, Duilio Davino, Drew Moor, Blake Wagner - Andre Rocha (Dominic Oduro 95+), Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa (Dax McCarty 68) - Bruno Guarda (Eric Avila 75) - Kenny Cooper, Jeff Cunningham. Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, Aaron Pitchkolan, Victor Sikora
• "I thought we did enough things to win the game," Hyndman said. "I thought Andre (Rocha) played very well, controlling the game and controlling the ball. It was very difficult for us to put the ball in the goal. We had some really good chances. Both teams were going at each other very hard."
TEAM NEWS
• For the second consecutive match, a late penalty kick gave FC Dallas a share of the points. Against San Jose the week before, a penalty in the 89th minute, also converted by Cooper, gave the Hoops a 1-1 draw with San Jose.
• "Obviously, we're playing at home and we really wanted to get the three points," defender Blake Wagner said. "It was unlucky that we gave up two goals. But we fought back and got another goal. It's good, which shows our character again. We needed to win that one. We've still got two games left. It will be tough on the road but I think we'll be all right."
• With the draw, FCD finishes the regular season with a home mark of 5-4-6, the club's fewest home victories in five seasons. In their last five matches at Pizza Hut Park, the Hoops were just 1-2-2.
• "It's a tough result to take," midfielder Dax McCarty said. "I think we were the better team tonight in all facets of the game except for the finishing. Maybe we did get bailed out a little bit at the end but from what I've heard, it was a clear PK and a definite foul. We just have to take it in stride and hope that some other results go our way and take care of business our last two games on the road."
• FC Dallas is unbeaten in their last five games. But that includes three draws where they've seen the opponents take leads in the second half which FCD has overcome, beginning with a 2-2 draw at D.C. United on Sept. 13 where Cooper gave the Hoops an early lead, only for United to score twice.
• "We just need to stay tuned in for the whole 90 minutes," Wagner said. "We can't give up goals like that. We just need to fight through the whole thing and not give up silly stuff like that."
• Cooper's two-goal performance was his fourth brace of the year. His two tallies give him 18 for the year, which ties Jason Kreis for the FCD club record. The total also puts him one tally behind LA's Landon Donovan for the Budweiser Golden Boot. Cooper also has 33 career goals, which makes him FCD's No. 2 all-time scorer behind only Kreis.
• "I feel very grateful to my teammates. They've let me take four penalty kicks this year which obviously pad those stats. I'm very grateful to them and for all of the service I've been getting this year," Cooper said. "As a striker, you're very dependent upon your teammates to give you good service, and I've been getting good service all year."
