a Manchester United forward that started the last match of the season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge; Lie Tie -- a defensive midfielder who plied his trade for five seasons for Everton before switching to Sheffield Wednesday in the winter transfer window; Shao Jiayi -- Energie Cottbus left midfielder who also spent four years at 1860 Munich; Qu Bo -- a 2002 World Cup finalist who also spent some time with Tottenham Hotspurs as a forward; and Sun Xiang -- the first player in Chinese history to play in the Champions League with PSV Eindhoven in a 1-0 win over Arsenal, RSL faced a much more difficult opponent than the 3-0 trot over the Fijian National Team earlier in the year.
Taking advantage of the international friendly with both the younger players who were looking to put pressure on Jason Kreis when he picked his squad for this week's nationally televised match against FC Dallas on ESPN2, the trio of Chris Klein, Eddie Pope and Nick Rimando got the chance to rest their weary legs. Carey Talley, Danny Torres and Jean-Martial Kipre were still not available for selection because of injury and Kreis was really looking to see which players, given their chance, would take advantage of the big stage against a team that was looking to rebound from the loss against the United States.
Chris Seitz would be given his opportunity to continue to grow in-between the pipes, while a back four of Richie Kotschau on the left, the Nik Besagno-Jack Stewart partnership in the middle and Steve Curfman at right back, got their chances to impress. Atiba Harris would drop into the defensive midfield role that he occupies for his country, Jamie Watson and Duke Hashimoto on the right and left and Andy Williams in his more natural attacking midfield position. Up front were the Browns, as both Kyle and Chris looked to test and attack the back four of China.
From the start RSL was looking to get in behind the defense with balls over the top, but keeper Yang Jun in his third start was up to the task, staying connected with his back four and easily intercepting anything that dropped. With the Chinese team having a few problems with a bouncing ball on the turf, many turnovers by both teams in the midfield third led to attacking opportunities. Man U. forward Fangzhou had no hesitation when it came to pulling the trigger, logging seven shots in the first half, five being on frame, and Chris Seitz handling most of them with ease.
The biggest test in the first half was a very good chance that fell to the feet of Hao Junmin in alone on the big U-20 World Cup keeper. Seitz stayed big, cut down the angle and finished the play nicely, holding onto the ball and out letting quickly for a counter attack.
In the second half, wholesale changes by Kreis were made, with Reynish seeing the last 10 minutes in goal, Dustin Kirby replacing Stewart at center back, Lancos switching with Curfman at right back, Kenny Cutler, Freddy Adu and Alecko Eskandarian replacing Hashimoto, Watson and Kyle Brown.
In the 80th minute, RSL finally found a breakthrough, with Williams knocking a ball back the right back Lancos out wide on the touchline. With two touches, Lancos whipped in a curling ball away from the keeper and, with two hard runs both front and back post, Chris Brown knocked the ball down for Eskandarian to roof into the net over a diving Jun.
Showing what has become a regular occurrence in the last three matches for a team that in the past had been known to give up soft goals in the dying moments of matches, RSL held on expertly for a much-needed mental win against a team that should have beaten them outright. Kreis must have been happy with what he saw, especially with such a youthful, somewhat inexperienced squad that was stocked with reserve team players.
On the outside, Watson played perhaps his best game in an RSL uniform, pushing constantly, creating good chances and whipping in good crosses both early and timed. The Stewart-Besagno pairing was sharp all night, with the exception of both getting beat once for pace, nothing coming from either chance. Kotschau was solid in both possession and one on one situations down the flank.
Williams, affectionately known as "Bomma," showed his ability in keeping the ball and finding space for onrushing forwards. And finally, Harris looked more comfortable in both touches and decision-making, although he did get stripped a few times when hesitating in the midfield.
In the second half, Lancos and Kirby both played well in the back, and the partnership of Chris Brown and Eskandarian looked dangerous and created the only goal of the match, one Real Salt Lake had been searching for in the last three matches.
With a week off until a revenge driven match against an FC Dallas team (a late 2-2 draw dashed the hopes of an RSL team looking to build upon the success of the final half of last years season) that will be missing Kenny Cooper due to injury and Carlos Ruiz due to the Gold Cup and Guatemalan national team duties, RSL will look for their first win of the MLS season against their Western Conference counterparts.
Brian Dunseth, the former Captain of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team, who scored the game-winning goal in Real Salt Lake's first-ever win in its home opener in 2005 vs. rival Colorado, can be heard each week on KALL 700 AM the Zone, providing analysis during RSL game broadcasts and co-hosting the pre- and post-game shows for RSL home games. A nine-year veteran of MLS play, Dunseth is now a licensed realtor for The Bringhurst Group in Salt Lake City, and looks forward to your feedback atbrian@slchouses.com.
