Real Salt Lake MF Mehdi Ballouchy assisted on a trio of goals by Chris Klein, Eddie Pope and another by Klein to lead RSL to a 3-1 preseason win over CD Chivas USA Saturday night at John Elway Stadium in Granada Hills, Calif.
"Our midfield was simply outstanding tonight," said RSL Head Coach John Ellinger. "The defensive pressure and quick possession was exactly what we have been preaching. It's great to see the team coming together as a cohesive unit."
Klein hit a 30-yard screamer in the game's sixth minute to stake RSL to the early lead, then saw the team double the margin to 2-0 in the 27th minute when Pope rose above a glut of defenders to head home a Ballouchy corner kick.
RSL started the game in a 4-5-1 formation, with GK Nick Rimando behind the team's first-choice back four, with Jack Stewart on the right next to Eddie Pope and Daniel Torres, and Willis Forko in his traditional left back position. Chris Klein and Freddy Adu manned the right and left wings, respectively, captain Jason Kreis and Carey Talley assumed their usual midfield positions, with Mehdi Ballouchy playing attacking midfield in support of defending MLS Golden Boot winner Jeff Cunningham.
In the 30th minute, Stewart sent a long, diagonal ball to Cunningham, who played it into the corner of the box to Freddy Adu. Adu dribbled through three defenders, but saw his efforts snuffed by the Chivas 'keeper. Four minutes later, after being fouled just outside the box, Adu's free kick offering glanced high off the crossbar.
At halftime, Ivory Coast trialist Jean-Martial Kipre replaced Forko, due to the second-year player out of Connecticut suffering a strained right hamstring. Kipre immediately got involved, speeding up the left flank several times in the second half, including a five-pass combination sequence in the 50th minute with Ballouchy, Adu and Kreis touching the ball, culminating in Kreis' 20-yard shot going just wide past the right post.
One minute later, Chivas cut the lead in half on an Ante Razov score, intensifying the match. While Talley and Stewart each had received cautions in the first half, a series of rough tackles at midfield by both teams heightened the aggressive play. Tempers flared when Chivas' Amado Guevara cleaned out Cunningham from behind, but the whistle was not blown, and Cunningham was cautioned seconds later for retaliating. In the 60th minute, Chivas DF Carlos Llamosa was sent off for a studs-up tackle, giving RSL an 11-on-10 advantage.
After combining with Cunningham in the 66th minute nearly set up a Ballouchy goal, Klein delivered the brace in the 70th minute. After a splitting run by Cunningham cut open the defense, Ballouchy's incisive ball put Klein in alone on the 'keeper, with the veteran slotting a low ball for the 3-1 lead.
One minute later, Klein nearly notched the hat trick, seeing his point-blank offering parried wide by the goalkeeper. The RSL highlight of the second half might have come in the 82nd minute, when the team strung together no fewer than a dozen passes, building the attack out of the back up the right side, then back around to the left, culminating as Adu lobbed a cross at the spot to Talley, who brought the ball down and shot in one motion. The shot was saved, but the deflection was tracked down by Ballouchy in the left corner, and his pass across the face of the goal was redirected by a defender, just eluding a wide-open Cunningham at the back post.
RSL departs the Los Angeles area Sunday morning via bus for Fresno, Calif., where the team will play games Wednesday and Saturday nights as guests of the PDL Fresno Fuego.
RSL 3:1 CD Chivas USA
Scoring SummaryRSL: Klein (Ballouchy) - 6'
RSL: Pope (Ballouchy) - 27'
CHV: Razov (Mendoza) - 51'
RSL: Klein (Ballouchy) - 70'
Lineups:
REAL SALT LAKE: Nick Rimando; Jack Stewart, Carey Talley, Daniel Torres, Eddie Pope, Willis Forko (Jean-Martial Kipre 46'); Chris Klein, Mehdi Ballouchy; Jason Kreis (Kenny Cutler 90'), Freddy Adu, Jeff Cunningham.
CHIVAS USA: Preston Burpo; Alex Zotinca (Jorge Barrera 75'), Claudio Suárez (Jason Hernández 46'), Carlos Llamosa, Lawson Vaughn; Francísco Mendoza, Amado Guevara (Erasmo Solorzano 75'), Sacha Kljestan; Ante Razov (Matt Taylor 75'), Mykael Galindo, John Cunliffe.
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Assitant Referees: Emiliano Monje, Frank Anderson
4th Official: Miguel Chicas.
Cautions:
Carey Talley RSL 18'
Jack Stewart RSL 22'
Sacha Kljestan CHV 40'
Jeff Cunningham RSL 59'
Ejections:
Carlos Llamosa CHV 61'
