PORTLAND, Ore. – There was at least one positive for Real Salt Lake on Saturday despite dropping a 1-0 verdict to the Portland Timbers.
After nearly three months on the sidelines, holding midfielder Sunny started and saw his first MLS action since suffering multiple facial fractures on June 22 in a collision with Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles.
“I feel good physically,” said the Nigerian midfielder, who helped RSL to a 7-2-3 record in the 12 starts he made before the injury.
RSL head coach Jeff Cassar called Saturday’s 75 minutes in a challenging environment “a massive step forward" in Sunny's quest to return to full fitness, a welcome development for a team chasing a top-two seed in the Western Conference playoff race.
“I thought him and Kyle [Beckerman] did well,” Cassar said. “I don’t think he turned the ball over very much, was in good positions defensively. We talked about being in good shape and I thought we were for the most part.”
Cassar also gave good marks to Chris Schuler in his return at center back. Schuler returned to the RSL XI for the first time in 14 months after spending the past six months with the club's USL team, Real Monarchs, following injury troubles.
“[The Timbers] front four are very dangerous," Cassar said. "They cause a lot of problems underneath and in behind and I thought he was pretty dang good tonight."
On the flip side, Javier Morales was forced out of the match in the 76th minute after coming on at halftime. Cassar said it Morales suffered a quad injury that might have happened on a 65th-minute free kick that narrowly missed and would have tied the score.
“We just weren’t really sharp enough in the final third to give ourselves the opportunities,” Cassar said. “We had a couple half chances. I don’t think we were prepared to take them mentally.
“I do like the fight that our team had, and the commitment. But we were a little off tonight.”
