PHOENIX (ABC 4 Sports) - Real Salt Lake ended its 15-day training camp in Arizona earlier this afternoon by drawing 1-1 with D.C. United in a 90-minute scrimmage contested at the Reach 11 Sports Complex.
“Like any preseason game there were some good things and bad things. I think we probably allowed D.C. United a bit too many good looks, but there were still some good things that came out of it,” said RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis. “We’ve been very focused on defending during this camp, so while we didn’t create too many chances we can’t be too critical about that right now.”
Unlike the chippy start RSL saw in its opener last Friday against Vancouver, there was a bit more love between the two sides for the Valentine’s Day affair, but that would soon be interrupted with three cards issued in the middle of the opening stanza, beginning with United DF Emiliano Dudar’s hard challenge on FW Fabian Espíndola in the 20th minute. RSL would unfortunately see a card of a different color seven minutes later, as DF Samir Bengelloun was issued a straight red card for a diving tackle on United MF Andy Najar on the sideline.
After Espíndola was again fouled in the 33rd minute, RSL was allowed to return to full strength, with Wes Knight taking over on the left side of defense and Terukazu Tanaka flipping sides to man the right flank. RSL scored off the ensuing restart, with DF Jamison Olave nodding home MF Ned Grabavoy’s pinpoint free kick service at the corner of the six, putting the Utah side up 1-0. United created a quality chance to pull even in the 41st minute, but MF Danny Cruz’s 25-yard shot bounced off the left post and away from danger, allowing RSL to carry the lead into the halftime break.
Kreis elected to keep most of his line-up intact to start the second half, the move paying off with the Claret-and-Cobalt keeping most of the possession at the start of the period. However, no chances of note would be created until both teams made a “line change” at the hour mark.
Defensive pressure by the RSL duo of MF Jonny Steele and DF Diogo de Almeida on the sideline in the 66th minute created RSL’s best chance of the half, as a forced turnover and a pair of quick passes found the ball at the feet of MF Sebastian Velasquez. The rookie cut left towards the top of the area and unleashed a screaming left-footer from 25 yards out that sailed just a foot over the crossbar.
From there on out it was nearly all D.C. United, with the Black-and-Red able to create a turnover of their own into a tally in the 77th minute, when Lance Rozeboom picked off a pass 45 yards from goal and took two touches before his shot from 25 yards skipped between RSL GK Lalo Fernandez and his right post to even the contest. United FW Alfredo Martins saw two shots go begging in the final 10 minutes, allowing RSL to register its second 1-1 draw in as many contests this spring.
“The energy of the second group was really good for the first 10 minutes; they got out there and sprayed some passes around and created a really good chance the first few minutes,” said Kreis. “But they lost their way a little after that and for the last 20 minutes it was all D.C. United. They put us under pressure and we naively tried to play out of that rather than release the pressure a bit and just play it into their half of the field.”
