It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Real Salt Lake exhibited a sort of multiple personality syndrome against FC Dallas on Friday night.
For 45 minutes, the Claret-and-Cobalt endured one of their most awful stretches collectively so far this season. Then, after halftime, it was as if a switch had flipped and RSL looked completely brilliant.
It would not be a cliché to describe it as a game of two halves. Fortunately for RSL, the good half far outweighed the bad one in a 4-2 triumph at Rio Tinto Stadium. The victory marked the first time in club history that the team had rallied from a two-goal deficit to win.
That one remarkable half took RSL from playing its way out of the playoff picture for good to giving itself new life. Head coach Jason Kreis is hopeful that his players will make the most of this new chance.
"I want to be clear here: I think that's the type of game that could change our season," Kreis said. "That will be proven by what we do next week and over the coming weeks."
Yura Movsisyan got the ball rolling on the team digging itself out of that 2-0 hole after halftime. Movsisyan was slated to start as usual a day before the game until injuring an ankle in practice. Kreis decided to use him as a reserve after feeling his striker could not go a full 90 minutes.
Once Movsisyan came off the bench, he injected the team with an instant dose of energy. He made his mark immediately in the 55th minute when Javier Morales lobbed a ball over the top to Movsisyan and he slotted a low ball past Dallas 'keeper Ray Burse as he came out to challenge, giving RSL its first goal.
Movsisyan's goal opened the floodgates for Real. A successful penalty kick by Robbie Findley in the 62nd minute made it 2-2. Daniel Torres then coughed up an own goal in the 88th minute to give RSL its first lead. Finally, Movsisyan wrapped up things with his second goal -- set up on a breakaway past Torres -- three minutes into stoppage time.
"We knew all we needed one to wake us up," Movsisyan said. I knew that one goal would get us going just because it would wake people up. It would wake us up. It would wake the fans up and it would make Dallas think, 'You know what? It's going to be a long day.'"
Once RSL woke up, they picked Dallas apart. In the first half, FCD had four out of five shots on frame, with the fifth hitting a post. In the second half, the roles reversed with Real getting 13 shots and putting six of those on frame.
Defender Nat Borchers credited the turnaround to an improved second-half effort on both sides of the ball.
"I thought it was pretty simple -- it was our energy," Borchers said. "In the first half, we were rattled. We weren't passing the ball well. We came in here and we regrouped. We just said, 'Look, we're going to come out and go after them,' and we did."
Perhaps the biggest play of the game came in the 71st minute when Dallas had a golden opportunity to retake the lead on a penalty kick of its own. Jeff Cunningham had already beaten RSL once in the first half for his 108th goal -- tying him with Kreis on the MLS all-time list for goals scored.
Cunningham had a glorious chance to pass Kreis when he stepped up to the spot. He tried to slide the ball past 'keeper Nick Rimando's right side. But Rimando guessed correctly on the intended destination and made an incredible diving save.
"If that goes in the back of the net, our heads are down a little bit," Rimando said. "When I made that save, it kind of got the crowd into it. The guys got into it and I think we stepped our game up and put two more away -- which is good we really needed three points."
If there is one play that potentially saved the season for RSL, Rimando's save could be the one. Kreis felt like that alone was a difference maker between a win and a potentially ugly loss.
"That's a game-changing play from somebody who is a leader on this team," Kreis said.
Good news for RSL wasn't just limited to the game itself. The team received word late in the second half that Will Johnson had been named to the MLS All-Star roster as an injury replacement for New England's Shalrie Joseph. It was an honor that left Johnson and the rest of the team feeling ecstatic.
"I'm excited," Johnson said. "A lot of times the things that I do and I'm good at on the field go unnoticed. But I'm glad they didn't this time."
John Coon is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
