PORTLAND, Ore. – Real Salt Lake (14-8-11, 53 points) GK Nick Rimando is the all-time MLS leader in shutouts and he showed just how he earned more clean sheets than any goalkeeper in league history on Friday. Rimando finished with six saves and commanded the RSL defense en route to a 0-0 draw with the Portland Timbers (11-9-13, 46 points) in front of a crowd of 20,814 at Providence Park.
Rimando’s sixth shutout of the season and 114th in his career kept RSL two points ahead of FC Dallas in the Western Conference standings after the keeper returned from a 1-1 draw on Tuesday with the U.S. National Team in a friendly against Honduras.
In the first 10 minutes of the match, RSL MF Luis Gil asserted himself in the match with two shots from the edge of the 18-yard box. Starting in place of MF Luke Mulholland, Gil got the first threatening chance in the third minute, ripping a shot from outside the box that took a deflection on its way toward goal, putting it wide of the far post for a corner kick.
In the 10th minute, Gil took another shot from outside the box, but missed high as RSL continued to press the homestanding Timbers early in the match.
In the 18th minute, Rimando sprung off his line to thwart the Portland counter-attack. Timbers MF Diego Chara pushed up the right side and crossed the ball toward the penalty spot. Rimando slid out to knock the ball clear, but it spilled to the left side for MF Rodney Wallace. However, Rimando again sprung to action, smothering Wallace’s shot to keep the match scoreless.
RSL nearly nabbed the lead in the 39th minute when DF Tony Beltran sprayed a cross into the box from the right side. RSL FW Robbie Findley rose for a header, but Portland GK Donovan Ricketts got his hand to it for the save and FW Sebastian Jaime couldn’t get to the rebound before it was cleared from the goalmouth.
Before the halftime whistle, Portland would put the ball into the Salt Lake box, but couldn’t convert. In the 44th minute, MF Diego Valeri sent a corner kick into traffic in front of Rimando’s net and, after it bounced around in front of the net, fell back to Valeri on the right side and the Argentine midfielder missed high with his final effort and with that the two sides went into halftime knotted in a scoreless deadlock.
The second half started much like the first, with Gil taking an early shot from distance to test Ricketts, but Ricketts made the stop on his 50th-minute shot.
Valeri had a pair of opportunities miss just wide early in the second half in the other direction. His first came on a ball up the right side that he collected at a low angle before shooting just high and beyond the far post. Then, in the 60th minute, Valeri blasted a shot that just missed wide of the near post on the right side.
Moments later, Rimando thwarted a flurry from Portland in the box.
Portland MF Darlington Nagbe got the first shot away in the 61st-minute flood, taking a left-footed shot in the middle of the box that Rimando speared down. Wallace and FW Fanendo Adi both had cracks at rebounds that were blocked, the latter seeing RSL DF Chris Wingert knock it away for a corner kick, narrowly avoiding falling behind to the Timbers.
In the 66th minute, it wasn’t Rimando, but Gil coming up big in front of net. Portland DF Norberto Paparatto got his head to a corner kick and nodded it toward the near post, but Gil was on the post and made the clearance to keep Portland off the board.
In the 75th minute, a deflected ball left Nagbe 1v1 with Rimando up the left side. Rimando initially charged the loose ball, but thought better of it and retreated to his net, leaving Wingert enough time for a sliding stop.
Rimando would stop Paparatto again on a 77th minute header, diving to his left to parry the ball away for an RSL clearance.
Portland would continue to throw men forward over the final minutes of the match, but Rimando kept the Timbers off the scoreboard and the Real Salt Lake defense did its part to see out the shutout.
RSL now readies for its final match of the regular season on Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium against Chivas USA. Kickoff for the regular season finale is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT and will have a local broadcast on CW 30, ESPN 700 AM and 102.3 La Gran D FM.
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – RSL 0–0 POR
Box Score Notes:
- Tonight’s scoreless draw marked Real Salt Lake’s final road match of the regular season. RSL went 4-7-6 on the road in 2014.
- Friday’s 0-0 draw was the third and final regular season meeting between Real Salt Lake and Portland Timbers, with RSL going 1-1-1 against the Cascadia club this year. RSL claimed a 1-0 win in their first meeting on April 19 at Rio Tinto Stadium. The Timbers enacted revenge in the second encounter, pulling off a 3-1 on June 7 in Utah that snapped RSL’s 11-game unbeaten run against the Cascadia club.
- Real Salt Lake continues its successful history against the Portland Timbers, now posting an 8-2-4 all-time mark across all competitions against the Pacific Northwest side. RSL now records a 1-1-3 all-time regular season road record against Portland.
- With tonight’s tie Real Salt Lake remains third in the Western Conference with a 14-8-11 record and total of 53 points. RSL will look to capture a third-place finish when it takes on Chivas USA next Wednesday in order to avoid the Knockout Round between the fourth and fifth-place teams. FC Dallas currently sits two points behind RSL with two matches remaining in the regular season.
- Real Salt Lake welcomed back three players that missed the club’s last match against San Jose due to international duty. RSL GK Nick Rimando and FWs Joao Plata and Alvaro Saborio all saw action after returning from international duty with their respective national teams.
- Real Salt Lake veteran ‘keeper Nick Rimando recorded his 114th career clean sheet and sixth of the year in Portland.
- Tonight’s draw also saw the return of MF Javier Morales who was suspended from last week’s match against San Jose due to yellow card accumulation.
- RSL is still without DF Chris Schuler, who suffered a broken nose and fractured orbital bones in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 1-0 loss at Chivas USA on Oct. 5. Real Salt Lake DF Carlos Salcedo replaced Schuler at center back, his fifth consecutive start for RSL.
- Real Salt Lake MF Luis Gil earned his 16th start of the year tonight, replacing MF Luke Mulholland – who did not travel – on the right side of the diamond midfield.
REAL SALT LAKE 0-0 PORTLAND TIMBERS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2014
PROVIDENCE PARK
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
Portland Timbers 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
None
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (Yellow; Dissent) – 55’
POR – Diego Valeri (Yellow; Off the ball foul) – 55’
POR – Liam Ridgewell (Yellow; Foul) – 58’
POR - Norberto Paparatto (Yellow; Foul) – 92’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Chris Wingert, Nat Borchers, Carlos Salcedo, Tony Beltran; Kyle Beckerman (C), Ned Grabavoy, Luis Gil (Cole Grossman, 90’), Javier Morales; Sebastian Jaime (Joao Plata, 65’), Robbie Findley (Alvaro Saborio, 66’)
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella; Abdoulie Mansally; Sebastian Velasquez; Olmes Garcia
Portland Timbers (4-2-3-1): Donovan Ricketts; Alvas Powell, Norberto Paparatto, Liam Ridgewell, Jorge Villafana; Diego Chara, Ben Zemanski, Darlington Nagbe (Gaston Fernandez, 82’), Diego Valeri, Rodney Wallace; Fanando Adi (Maximiliano Urruti, 79’)
Substitutes not used: Jake Gleeson; Pa Madou Kah, Jack Jewsbury, Kalif Alhassan, Michael Harrington
Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referees: C.J. Morgante, Joe Fletcher
4th Official: Ricardo Salazar
Attendance: 20,814
Weather: Rain and 57 degrees
