SECOND HALF OUTBURST HELPS REAL SALT
LAKE RUN PAST SAN JOSE 4-0
FW Álvaro
Saborío’s Brace Paces Home Side’s Offensive Explosion across Final Half Hour;
Utah Side Pushes
Undefeated Streak in League Play to Seven Matches
SANDY, Utah (Saturday, July 23, 2011)– It took awhile for Real Salt Lake to move the scoreboard, but once it did the goals kept coming as the Utah side tallied four times over the final half-hour to power past the San Jose Earthquakes4-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,429 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Despite gaining more and more control as the first half progressed, the Claret-and-Cobalt couldn’t push anything past San Jose ‘keeper Jon Busch, with his kick save on RSL FW Fabian Espíndola’s 43rd minute attempt marking the home side’s best chance in the opening stanza.
Things would change dramatically in the second half after RSL FW Álvaro Saborío was ruled to have been taken down inside the area by ‘Quakes DF Bobby Burling in the 60th minute, resulting in a straight red card for a last defender infraction and a point to the spot from referee David Gantar. Saborío would slot home his second PK of the season in the 63rd minute, which he followed up 12 minutes later with a rebound goal off an initial shot by MF Ned Grabavoy to increase the lead to 2-0.
With the man advantage in tow, Real Salt Lake continued to pour on the pressure in the final quarter-hour, with captain Kyle Beckerman first slotting home a rebound off the post in the 78th minute before helping set up DF Jamison Olave’s 83rd minute finish. The closing goals put an exclamation mark on a performance that saw RSL outshoot the ‘Quakes 24-3 on the evening.
Real Salt Lake Match
Notes
- Tonight’s victory stretched the third-longestregular season unbeaten streak in Real Salt Lake history to seven games (3-0-4). The current run now stands behind only the 18-game and 10-game streaks that originated during the club’s record-setting 2010 campaign.
- In its 202nd MLS regular season contest, RSL struck for at least four goals for the 10th time in team history, and the second time in 2011 (4-1 W v. LA on March 26 in Sandy). Tonight marks the eighth time the squad has netted four times, going along with five- and six-goal outbursts against New England in 2010 and 2009, respectively. RSL also scored four goals in its Pioneer Day Celebration match-up on July 24, 2009, against FC Dallas (4-2 W).
- The brace for FW Álvaro Saborío was the Costa Rican international’s second of the season, following up on his two-goal performance against Toronto FC back on June 25 (3-1 W). Now up to five goals on the campaign, “Sabo” sits just one tally behind fellow striker Fabian Espíndola for RSL’s scoring lead.
- With his assist on DF Jamison Olave’s parting shot in the 83rd minute,MF Kyle Beckerman increased his team-lead in the category to five and registered his fourth helper in as many league contests. The RSL captain has already equaled his single-season career high in the category, which he notched as a member of the Colorado Rapids back in 2003. Beckerman now sits in a nine-way tie for ninth-place across MLS in the category this season.
- With their late goals, Beckerman and Olave became the seventh and eighth Real Salt Lake players this season to notch multiple goals, the duo now amongst a crowded group of six players that are tied for third-place on the team’s scoring chart alongside MF Will Johnson, MF Javier Morales, FW Paulo Jr. and MF Andy Williams.
- The goal for Olave was the 10th of the defender’s MLS career, nine of which have come in home contests (with eight coming at Rio Tinto Stadium).
- The shutout was RSL’s tenth in league play this season and Nick Rimando’sninth of 2011, which helped boost his current shutout streak to 207 minutes. Rimando trails only FC Dallas netminder Kevin Hartman (11) for the league lead in shutouts, while RSL’s defense continues to pace Major League Soccer, with tonight’s result lowering its league-best goals against average to just 0.67.
- It’s not just RSL’s defense that is impressing lately, as tonight’s scoring outburst bumped the Utah side into second place across MLS with a 1.50 goals per game output, now trailing only the New York Red Bulls’ 1.61 clip. The Claret-and-Cobalt have now scored multiple goals in each of their last four contests, outscoring the opposition 12-4 beginning its 3-1 win over Toronto FC on June 25.
- With Saborio’s conversion from the penalty spot, RSL is now a perfect 4-for-4 from the 12-yard mark in MLS play this season (Saborio 2-2, Espindola 1-1, Morales 1-1). The PK conversion also marked the 200th goal of Saborio's professional career when combining regular season, Cup competitions and National Team play.
- Thanks to his pinpoint cross on Olave's late tally, F/M Arturo Alvarez notched his first assist in an RSL uniform in regular season play. The attacker's 79th minute appearance off the bench marked Alvarez's first regular season action since May 22 at FC Dallas due to his Gold Cup call-up for El Salvador in June and a lingering hamstring strain throughout July.
- Beckerman and Olave will depart Utah on Sunday for the New York City area to join their fellow MLS All-Stars for Wednesday’s 2011 MLS AT&T All-Star Game against Manchester United, taking place at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (6:30 p.m. MT kickoff). The All-Star nod is the fifth consecutive for Beckerman, although the RSL captain has only taken the field for the midseason classic on one prior occasion (started in 2009 vs. Everton at Rio Tinto Stadium). The All-Star appearance for Olave will be his second straight, as the defending MLS Defender of the Year played the first 45 minutes on behalf of the league in last year’s 5-2 defeat to the same Red Devils side.
- Those two won’t be the only RSL players away from the squad this week, as M/F Luis Gil will take off Sunday for a destination even further east – Northern Ireland – to join his U.S. Under-18 National Team mates for the 29th annual edition of the Milk Cup tournament. Gil and the USA side will take on Israel on Monday and CONCACAF rival Mexico on Wednesday, and his status for next Saturday’s RSL contest against Columbus will hinge on which placement match the U.S. qualifies for on Friday.
- Real Salt Lake’s homestand will continue next Saturday, July 30, when the Eastern Conference co-leading Columbus Crew (8-6-7, 31 pts.; 3rd in East) come to Sandy for a 7:00 p.m. MT kickoff at Rio Tinto Stadium. Thanks to last Saturday’s postponement in Vancouver, next weekend’s match against the Crew will mark RSL’s fifth straight league fixture to be played at Rio Tinto Stadium during a busy summer stretch in Sandy.
MLS POST-GAME QUOTE SHEET
REAL SALT LAKE 4 : 0 SAN JOSE
EARTHQUAKES
Real
Salt Lake Head coach Jason Kreis
On the flow of the
game:
“I feel that we’ve been improving every single match for five or six matches. I think this was number seven in league play … we had an Open Cup match that was a bit of a step backwards, but I think tonight we moved forward again. But we’re still looking for 90 minutes of good play. Tonight it was 45, maybe 55; maybe there was 10 minutes of good play in the first half.”
On the play of FW
Álvaro Saborío:
“His play since he’s been back (from the CONCACAF Gold Cup) has been fantastic. He hasn’t scored in every game but you don’t have to score in every game. I think that forwards can do a lot of other things, and tonight he did a lot things really well for this team and it was good to see him get on the scoreboard.”
On the red card
and penalty kick call at the hour mark:
“You hope that over the course of a season some bounces are going to go your way and some decisions are going to go your way, and so tonight was one. I still think we have a couple more (calls) that we’ve got in our pockets.”
REAL SALT LAKE
MIDFIELDER KYLE BECKERMAN
On kissing the
post after his goal in the 78th minute:
“It was the first time that I had scored on (the north side of the field). I thought that I was cursed on that side of the field. I finally broke that, so hopefully there will be many more to come.”
On not allowing a
shot on goal for San Jose in the first half:
“I think that a lot of it is that they were not putting too much into the attack. A lot of their thought is defending the game rather than attacking the game, so when you have that mindset you are not going to get many offensive chances.”
On why RSL
couldn’t convert on their chances in the first half:
“We should have been up. I should have scored and Fabian [Espíndola] should have scored. It would have looked different if we were up 2-0 instead of 0-0. We knew we could pick it up a little bit (in the second half).”
REAL SALT LAKE
FORWARD ÁLVARO SABORÍO:
On playing up top
with Fabian Espíndola again:
“It is good to play with him. He is a good forward and a good player. It’s good because he gives you more confidence. He makes a lot of good runs, passes, and goals.”
SAN
JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH FRANK YALLOP
On the red card infraction at the hour
mark:
"I just asked Bobby Burling, and he didn't touch him. It’s up to the referee to make sure it is a penalty kick and that changed the game. Red card, penalty, goal and we were screwed after that. Up till then we were doing okay.
“If that’s a real penalty, no problems. If it’s not a penalty I have a big problem, so it better be. I haven’t seen it yet, but it better be a penalty kick.”
On the play of goalkeeper Jon Busch:
“Jon is a good goalkeeper, he made some great saves. He kept us in the game early with a good save on (Fabian) Espíndola.”
SAN
JOSE EARTHQUAKES DEFENDER BOBBY BURLING
On being sent off for an apparent foul
inside the area:
“I haven’t got a chance to watch the replay. I didn’t touch [Saborío]. I thought it was going to be a possible yellow card for a dive if anything. They talked to each other and came over and changed it around. It didn’t make a sense at all.”
On the red card decision’s affect on
the game:
“It totally changed the game. It was a battle till the 60th minute … it was a 0-0 game, it was going both ways. A red card will change the game.”
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
GOALKEEPER JON BUSCH
On
the red card call against Bobby Burling:
“One-hundred percent [Burling] didn’t touch [Saborio]. He absolutely did not touch him, I was standing right there. The guy could have shot before he went down if he wanted to. He cut back against two defenders, neither Bobby (Burling) or Brad (Ring) touched him at all, whatsoever. We honestly thought when the referee came running, we were getting ready to play a free kick cause we thought it would be a yellow card for diving. It was unbelievable.”
On
how the call changed the game:
“It changed the whole game. Up until that point we were playing a pretty good road game against a very good team. Salt Lake is a very good team, especially at home; they play possession, they knock the ball and wear you down. That card changes the game and it’s a shame, because who knows how it ends.”
On
his approach coming into the match:
“I’m always fired up. I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I’m a calm fired up, but I felt like tonight we were unjustly done.”
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