Josh Wolff scored a pair of goals as the Kansas City Wizards handed Real Salt Lake their first-ever regular season defeat at Rio Tinto Stadium in a 2-0 victory Saturday night.
Wolff scored in the 20th and 67th minutes to give him six goals on the season, moving him into a tie for the league lead, as RSL hit the frame twice. Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman performed well all night to give K.C. the shutout and disappoint a sellout crowd.
The Wizards controlled the flow of the game early, but it was Salt Lake with the first good opportunity of the match. A sixth-minute turnover by the Kansas City midfield gifted the ball to RSL. Yura Movsisyan and Robbie Findley combined to put Findley in behind the defense directly in front of Hartman, but he made an excellent save on Findley's point-blank strike.
But it wasn't long before the Wizards came up with their first good scoring chance of the match. Thanks to some good midfield play in the ninth minute, K.C. found itself with a 3-on-2 in RSL's end. Jack Jewsbury advanced the ball up the right flank and found Wolff near the top of the penalty area. Wolff passed the ball to the left side of the area where an unmarked Claudio Lopez settled and unleashed a shot that missed the far post by a few yards.
The Wizards contined to be the aggressor early on thanks to the strength of their possession-oriented attack. In the 20th minute they nearly capitalized on a cross by Wolff which found Davy Arnaud at the top of the penalty area, but Arnaud's well-struck shot was saved by RSL's Chris Seitz.
But K.C. finally broke through seconds later. Picking off a pass in midfield, Jewsbury slotted a diagonal through ball in behind the Salt Lake defense. Thanks to a poorly timed offside trap, Wolff found himself in alone on Seitz. Seitz came out and was able to disrupt the play, but the ball bounced back to Wolff, who finished the easy tap-in.
Salt Lake improved its possession as the first half went on and in the 32nd minute had another promising opportunity. A cross from Chris Wingert on the left side found the head of Javier Morales near the penalty spot, but he flicked his header just wide of the far post.
In the 36th minute, Real again almost found the equalizer as a switch of field reached an unmarked Robbie Russell at the top of the Wizards penalty area. Russell's low driven shot was on target, but Hartman made a diving save to his left to preserve the shutout.
On the ensuing corner kick, Morales' cross was headed on goal by Kyle Beckerman, but again Hartman was up to the task with a diving save. The ball bounced around dangerously close to the Wizards goal until Matt Besler was able to step in and clear it from danger.
RSL had another golden opportunity in the 43rd minute. A Lance Watson foul on Movsisyan just outside the Wizards penalty area set up a good free kick opportunity for the home side. Mathis took the free kick but banged it off the Kansas City wall.
In first-half stoppage time, Kansas City almost hit for another goal, this time against the run of play. From a throw-in, a defensive miscue by Salt Lake left Wolff running unimpeded up the right flank. He played a dangerous low ball into the six-yard box which Jamison Olave attempted to slide tackle away. But his clearance went right to Jewsbury, who struck a low shot that missed the far post by inches.
Real came on strong to start the second half. Only two minutes into the half, Beckerman and Mathis made a nice give-and-go to get into the Kansas City area. Beckerman's shot beat Hartman but not the woodwork as his shot bounced off the far post. The rebound went right to Morales who unleashed another hard shot, but it was deflected out of play. Then on the corner kick that followed, Nat Borchers got his head on the cross but nodded it just high and wide of the goal.
While RSL pushed harder and harder looking for an equalizer, K.C. continued to terrorize the home defense by finding open spaces and working the ball around quickly. But not until the 67th minute did their work pay off again, with Wolff tallying for the second time.
Michael Harrington, who had entered the game as a substitute only two minutes before, got loose up the right wing and advanced the ball 60 yards up the field. He slotted a perfect diagonal ball past a sliding Borchers, and Wolff slid in to tap the ball past Seitz to the near post.
Down two goals, Salt Lake continued to bring numbers into the attack, and again they were nearly rewarded in the 82nd minute. Morales took a hard long-range shot which Hartman was able to deflect out of play. On the ensuing corner kick, Luis Miguel Escalada almost scored an amazing first-time volley from the right corner of the penalty area, but his rocket shot hit the crossbar and was cleared to safety.
But pressing forward left Real open to counterattacks, and Kansas City nearly converted in the 84th minute off the foot of Herculez Gomez. Gomez got loose on the left side of the penalty area and hit a well-struck shot that just missed high.
Real had several chances in the dying minutes of the match, but as was the case the entire match, they were unable to find the net and Kansas City walked out with a comfortable win.
The Wizards return home next weekend when they take on MLS overall leader Chivas USA, while Real hit the road where they have yet to win, or score a goal, this season, traveling to take on D.C. United.
Jeremy Horton is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
