A momentary defensive lapse made all the difference Saturday as Real Salt Lake suffered their fourth road loss of the season, falling 1-0 to league-leading Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center.
RSL fell victim to an unlucky deflection in the 54th minute that put Paulo Nagamura's shot just out of Chris Seitz's reach for a 1-0 result in favor of the home side.
"I thought that we limited the number of chances that Chivas had. The previous trip [at Colorado], I feel like we gave up a whole lot more chances than we did tonight," said RSL head coach Jason Kreis.
Real started in a 4-5-1 formation for the first time this season, playing Yura Movsisyan as a lone striker in front of a packed midfield. The tactical change seemed to work, as RSL had a number of good looks at the Chivas USA net.
"I like the new formation," said RSL captain Kyle Beckerman. "It gives us more numbers in the middle, and we like to play through the middle. I thought we put them under pressure and had some decent chances."
Saturday's game also saw the first professional start for rookie Raphael Cox. The 54th overall pick in the 2009 MLS Super Draft played a strong 67 minutes before being substituted.
"It was nice to get my first start," said Cox. "It took me a little while to get adjusted to the game, but I think once I did, I did a decent job."
Cox started at left midfield, assuming a wide role that allowed him some open space in the 4-5-1 formation.
"We don't have a lot of guys that want to play wide and want to run at players," said Kreis. "But we played a little different tactically tonight, and for that tactical change, he was the perfect fit. He definitely played well enough to show us that he should be considered in the future."
Cox was substituted by Robbie Findley in the 67th minute in the first of three offensive changes for RSL. Kreis also brought on Fabian Espindola and Andy Williams in the 75th minute in an attempt to bolster his offensive firepower for the end of the match.
"I was really pleased with our subs," said Kreis. "Fabian and Andy were extremely busy and were doing everything they could to try and make the difference for us. And Robbie Findley was the same. It's difficult to come in when you're down 1-0 because they have so many defenders back and space is very limited."
While RSL's inability to find points on the road is troubling, the team isn't sounding any alarm bells yet.
"Everybody makes a big deal about us on the road," said Movsisyan, who played his high school soccer in the Los Angeles area. "But it doesn't matter to us whether we're home or away. We still have to finish our chances when we get them."
Real Salt Lake has yet to score to a goal away from Rio Tinto Stadium in league play, having now allowed seven goals in four MLS road contests.
"This is a group that really believes in themselves," said Kreis. "If we can get that one goal on the road, then I think there will be a bunch behind it."
While they certainly aren't pleased with the loss to Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake return home confident in the fact that they played strong against the top team in the league.
"I think we defended well for the entire game, but that's soccer," said goalkeeper Chris Seitz. "You have one letdown in the box, one mental lapse, and in this league they'll make you pay."
Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
