WASHINGTON, D.C. – Real Salt Lake (1-1-0, 3 points, T-2 in West) dropped its match at D.C. United (1-1-0, 3 points, T-1 in East) on Saturday night, conceding a 60th minute goal to fall 0-1 at RFK Stadium.
RSL has never won at D.C., with Saturday’s result moving the team to 0-6-3 across all competitions in the nation’s capital. Now 1-1-0 on the year, the Claret-and-Cobalt will take on the Colorado Rapids next Saturday, March 16 in the team’s home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Saturday’s match started rather slowly, with the game’s first opportunity not coming until the 25th minute. D.C. FW Chris Pontius started the play, crossing from the left side to the back post where MF Nick DeLeon to hit his six-yard header just wide of the net.
RSL had its best chance of the first half in the 30th minute. FW Robbie Findley hit a cross from the left side that looked destined for the head of open FW Alvaro Saborio at the back post, but D.C. GK Bill Hamid had other ideas, getting a fingertip to the ball to put it out of danger.
RSL GK Nick Rimando made a big play of his own in the 32nd minute. Pontius ran onto FW Lionard Pajoy’s through ball in the left side of the area, ripping a 12-yarder toward the near post that a diving Rimando parried away.
Real Salt Lake had a half chance in the 35th minute, when MF Luis Gil headed a DF Tony Beltran cross into the hands of Hamid.
The game slowed down after that, with neither side registering an opportunity until Pajoy put D.C. ahead in the 60th minute. D.C. MF John Thorrington started the play, collecting a loose corner kick outside the area and lifting a shot toward the top-left-corner that Rimando palmed away with a diving stop. Pajoy – kept onside by RSL MF Sebastian Velasquez – pounced on the rebound, heading the ball home from close-range.
The Claret-and-Cobalt nearly equalized in the 74th minute. Gil played MF Khari Stephenson in on the left side of the box, with the Jamaican attacker curling a shot toward the top-left-corner that Hamid held.
RSL’s other Jamaican – substitute DF Lovel Palmer – had a good look at goal in the 83rd minute, hitting a shot just wide of the left post from 30 yards out.
That was about it for the Claret-and-Cobalt, which didn’t register another good chance for the rest of the match.
D.C. did have another opportunity, nearly going ahead through substitute FW Carlos Ruiz in the 94th minute. Rimando made a great stop to keep the Guatemalan international’s shot out, blocking Ruiz’s point blank effort with an acrobatic save.
RSL will next play on Saturday, March 16, when it will take on Rocky Mountain Cup Presented by Mark Miller Subaru rival Colorado Rapids in the 2013 home opener at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Click here to access video highlights and the MLSsoccer.com MATCHCENTER for RSL 0-D.C. 1
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – RSL 0-1 D.C.
- RSL is winless in nine all-time matches in the nation’s capital, with Saturday’s result moving the Claret-and-Cobalt to 0-6-3 across all competitions at D.C.
- RSL was without four regulars for the second straight game on Saturday, with MF Javier Morales (R Lateral Meniscus Surgery), DF Nat Borchers (R Quad Surgery), DF Chris Wingert (R Fractured Metatarsal) and MF Ned Grabavoy (Family Matter) all missing the match.
- Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jason Kreis ran out the same starting XI that he used in last Sunday’s win at the San Jose Earthquakes. Kreis started the same XI in consecutive games just four times in 41 games across all competitions in 2012.
- Real Salt Lake rookie MF John Stertzer made his professional debut on Saturday, coming on in the 81st minute for Khari Stephenson. A Fairfax, Va. native that played four years at the University of Maryland, Stertzer made his debut in front of a good number of family and friends in attendance at RFK Stadium.
REAL SALT LAKE 0–1 D.C. UNITED
SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 2013
RFK STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
D.C. United 0 1 0
Scoring Summary:
DC – Lionard Pajoy – 60’
Misconduct Summary:
DC – Lionard Pajoy (Off the ball foul) – 28’
RSL – Tony Beltran (Foul) – 31’
RSL – Abdoulie Mansally (Foul) – 63’
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (Dissent) – 87’
RSL – Alvaro Saborio (Foul) – 93’
Real Salt Lake (4-1-2-1-2) – Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Chris Schuler, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Abdoulie Mansally (Lovel Palmer, 66’); Kyle Beckerman (C); Luis Gil, Sebastian Velasquez; Khari Stephenson (John Stertzer, 81’); Robbie Findley (Joao Plata, 65’), Alvaro Saborio
Substitutes not used: Josh Saunders (GK), Carlos Salcedo, Devon Sandoval, Yordany Alvarez
D.C. United (4-4-2) – Bill Hamid; James Riley, Brandon McDonald, Dejan Jakovic, Chris Korb; Nick DeLeon, Perry Kitchen, John Thorrington (Marcelo Saragosa, 75’), Marcos Sanchez (Kyle Porter, 58’); Chris Pontius, Lionard Pajoy (Carlos Ruiz, 83’)
Substitutes not used: Joe Willis (GK), Rafael, Daniel Woolard, Robbie Russell
