I would have wagered nearly all the money I have (and then some) that RSL wouldn't win against Seattle on Saturday. With how things were going, Seattle just looked far too good to be beaten at home. As luck would have it, though, RSL found a way to win. Sure, it was anything but pretty. In fact, it was one of the ugliest and weirdest games of soccer I can remember. In the end, though, RSL picked up 3 gigantic points in the playoff race. They are right back in the thick of things in the West. Something I thought was long gone just a few weeks ago. It's funny just how quickly this game turns.
The first 45 minutes of this game were absolutely bizarre. The match was obviously going to be a physical one. Seattle had snapped RSL's home winning streak against MLS teams and thus RSL was playing with a bit of anger. Similarly, Seattle was being billed (by myself included) as the best team in the league right now. They weren't going to just be pushed around, especially on their home... field (if you can call it that).
Ejections:
The ref was out of his league, by a long shot. His first yellow card on Tony Beltran was weak to say the least. Tony went into a tackle and got plenty of the ball. Sure his studs were exposed and it might have deserved a foul, but not a yellow at all, especially considering he hadn't been warned or anything. His second yellow made the first one look legit, though. Tony went into a tackle literally a half second too late. He barely caught Rosales (who went down like a ton of bricks) and the ref went to his pocket. It was instantly obvious that the ref didn't realize it was Beltran's second yellow. He looked in his book and discovered his gaff. No way that was deserving of an ejection. Regardless, he painted himself into the corner and had to send Beltran off.
Only just a few minutes after his horrible call on Beltran to see him off, the ref made another gigantic blunder. The Seattle center back, Hurtado, won a ball off of Saborio deep in his own half. Sabo went to challenge for the ball and caught the elbow/hand of Hurtado in his upper chest. Sabo went down. Not theatrically diving, but instead just out of shock and surprise. The official, who was literally just a few yards away, instantly went to his back pocket and leveled the ejection count for both teams. 10 a side, it now was, on two horrendous decisions by the ref to send players off.
Goals/Non-goals:
Despite the officials attempts to eliminate scoring in the game by sending players off, the teams found the net. It came, however, in some equally strange fashion to the ejections. First, before Beltran had even received his first bogus yellow, came the opening goal. Espindola, causing havoc like he always does, found space on the left wing and headed towards goal. He looked up, saw Sabo making a run on the far post, and tried to whip it into him. The ball was too deep and too close to the keeper, though, for Sabo to get to. The ball was, however, very well struck and dangerous. Keller, the Seattle keeper, knew he had to meet it and awkwardly made a slide to get to it before it went to Sabo. In the process, however, Keller mishandled the ball somehow. He spun nearly 180 degrees and placed it into his own net. Everyone, including those watching on the television, were just stunned at what had happened. Did it really go in? Yes, probably the worst own-goal you will ever see; especially from a keeper of Keller's calibre.
Only minutes later, though, would the craziness continue. Seattle instantly was on the attack, trying to level the score. A ball into the box found Mike Facito. His first touch was heavy and got away from him. Robbie Russel went into a tackle which could attribute to that touch. The ref examined this slide by Russell, however, as late and impeding the run of Facito (who went down WAY too easily for me). The official pointed to the spot. It looked like we were going to be level. Mauro Rosales stepped up, sent Rimando the wrong way, but fired wide. Bizarre. RSL held onto their undeserved 1-0 lead for the rest of the normal time in the first half and looked to be getting into the break with a lead.
This wasn't the case, though, as Seattle put together one last attack before half. Rosales, now running down the left wing for Seattle, played a nice 1-2 with Montero just outside the box. Rosales got behind Russell far too easily and made his way to the touch line. All of the Seattle players in the box looked to be marked so Rosales tried to squeze a ball into the near post run. Borchers deflected the cross just for it to land at the feet of Montero. Olave, who had initially been marking Montero, lost his mark and was made to pay for the mistake. Montero settled the ball well and fired home a shot Nicky had no chance of saving.
The decisive goal for the match came in the second half. Fabian Espindola, once again, found space on the left wing and went at the Settle defense. He looked up and saw Sabo on the far side, top of the 18, and hit a really nice cross to him. Sabo connected with the ball just for it to hit off the Seattle defender. In the next 5 seconds, the reason soccer shouldn't be played on turf was displayed. The Seattle defender should have easily cleared the ball, but because of the spin and the turf, the ball took a weird bounce. It struck both players and fell to the feet of Sabo again. Saborio, pouncing on the mistake, took a touch to the left and fired home a well struck ball to the far post. Once again, just bizarre.
The rest of the match:
Despite the ref, the match still had a good level of soccer to it (outside the strange moments that defined the game). RSL did well to counter what Seattle threw at them. The first 60-65 minutes were especially impressive from RSL as they looked to not be chasing at all. Some rotations by Kreis, however, made the last 30 minutes very nerve-racking. At half Kreis burned his first sub by taking off Gil and replacing him with Schuler. Chris went to the outside left back position and, I have to say, didn't look much out of position at all. Maybe its something about Seattle, but Schuler has now shown twice (center back last year and left back this year), on the road up there, that he can fill in at this level. In hindsight, this was the move that saved the game for RSL. Schuler was a beast and prevented Seattle from building down that wing more often than not.
The other two rotations by Kreis, though, were a bit strange and nearly cost us. His second rotation was to take off Saborio and replace him with Grabavoy. A sub that, at the time, seemed a very smart idea. However, upon hindsight (and common sense) this move killed our ability to get the ball into the attack while the defense was under pressure. There is not a single player on this team that is capable of doing what Sabo does for us up top. That being releasing pressure while also keeping possession. His size and skill in the air are what starts numerous attacks for us. From the time he came off, we never once were able to win a ball in the middle to offensive third that was in the air.
The last sub was the worst of the three. Even at the time, contrary to the rest, it seemed the wrong move. Espindola had been simply destroying the Seattle defense. Even when it was him vs 3 defenders, Espy was causing chaos. Kreis decided that it was time for the Argentine to rest, though, and brought on Paulo Junior. Last year, when Paulo was healthy, this would have been a golden sub. This year, though, Paulo just doesn't have the same speed or tenacity to make it work. Once PJ came on, all of our attack went away. Not only did he not release pressure but he forced the ball back into the midfield on a few occasions - the exact opposite of what he should have been doing.
Despite all this, though, RSL found a way to win. It must be said, it was very much a team effort. The spine of this team (Nicky, Olave, Borchers, KB, and Espy) were the reasons we won. Each had tremendous nights with most the rest of the guys complimenting them very well.
Man of the Match: Kyle Beckerman
I really wanted to give this award to Espy. Had he stayed on even until the 80th minute, it would have been his. Kyle, though, was simply a beast. Seattle couldn't get things going in the middle of the park and that was all due to this guy. He played the full 90 against Philly, went to Belgium on 2 days rest and played a solid 45, then came back and played another full 90; he still was the hardest working player on the pitch. KB is playing some of the best soccer I've ever seen him play right now. Borchers and Espy better watch out, KB is making a charge for team MVP.
Wanker of the Match: Mark Kadlecik
The center official had a really really bad day in this one. His two ejections were just horrid and his overall consistency was just atrocious. I find it very interesting that MLS scheduled this guy to be the center after he officiated the first game between these two earlier this year (a game that saw Olave get sent off too, go figure). All I know is that Kasey Keller did everything he could to earn this award and still got beat to it by the ref.
Looking Ahead: Home Test
This Saturday RSL hosts Sporing Kansas City in what should be one of the biggest games of the year. It won't seem this way, though, as the University of Utah plays BYU in football the exact same day at the exact same time. RSL needs to get the full 3 points in this match to stay in the chase in the West. Games at home, this late in the season, are beyond vital to a team's success.
FORZA REAL
Cheers,
15 to 32
