Last year on the opener it was a warm, sunny night. This year it was a cold, windy, rainy night. It looked like the players were running around on a slip ‘n slide out there. Real Salt Lake managed to pull out a 1-0 victory in the wet condition. But this opener was much different from last year’s. This year the Quakes dominated much of the midfield, taking out RSL’s natural playstyle, and created numerous chances in the final third. Alas it was a Kyle Beckerman goal which stole 3 points from the Quakes.
Highlights of the game:
Beckerman’s shot came from 25 yards out and skipped once on the slick ground, hit the right post and bounced in. But the previous 60 minutes the Quakes had played great football. They dominated in midfield, traditionally RSL’s bread and butter, and were picking out the forwards in the final third with regularity. Johnson and Wondo had great chances to score early on. Wondo was found by himself about 6 yards out from goal but couldn’t put his head on Leitch’s cross correctly and the ball skipped out. Johnson brought the ball through the penalty area after about 20 minutes but whiffed on the shot when a defender poked it just beyond his foot.
The Quakes’ 3 new players, Ampai, Dawkins, and McLoughlin, were all subbed on in the second half in order to look for an equalizer. McLoughlin and Ampai each had a shot on goal in the final 10 minutes and Dawkins was able to slice into the middle of the final third and passing to an open Wondo before being overwhelmed by defenders. Dawkins was creating chances for the forwards and McLoughlin put in a couple great crosses from the left. I think these three will do well in the coming months. Yallop had this to say about the 3 new players:
“They did great. I thought Ellis made some quality runs. Simon is a lad we picked up from Tottenham Hotspur and looked good. He searched for the ball and ran with it. He’s a clever player, and Ampai came on and did fine too. Our depth looks good.”
Dawkins’ thoughts on the game:
“When I was on the bench, I was looking for opportunities where we could expose the ball,” Dawkins said. “I figured if I ran with the ball at midfield, I could create some chances. And that’s what I did. We had a few more chances, but just couldn’t take them. It was a little disappointing.”
Lineup & Stats
Jon Busch
Chris Leitch
Brandon McDonald
Jason Hernandez
Ramiro Corrales (Simon Dawkins 66)
Joey Gjertsen (Ellis McLoughlin 71)
Khari Stephenson (Anthony Ampaipitakwong 81)
Sam Cronin
Bobby Convey
Ryan Johnson
Chris Wondolowski.
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Wondolowski 4)
SHOTS ON GOAL: 10 (Wondolowski 2)
FOULS: 7 (Stephenson 3)
OFFSIDE: 1
CORNER KICKS: 6
SAVES: Busch 3
CAUTIONS: Cronin 6′, Leitch 37′, Stephenson 46′
Comparatively, RSL only had 10 shots with 4 on goal and Rimando had to make 10 saves, 8 of those coming in the final 15 minutes.
Yallop sums up the performance and outcome perfectly:
“I thought we dominated play most of the game. We felt on top of the game. I was very happy with the performance, but obviously not the result.”
Up next for the Quakes is FC Dallas in Dallas.
GO QUAKES!