MLS: Real Salt Lake 2-1 DC United

Week four in the Major League Soccer regular season and DC United travelled to Real Salt Lake's Rio Tinto Stadium with a record of one win and two draws. Real had a win and a loss under their belts.

United were without the suspended Jaime Moreno and legendary Ben Olsen, while Real were seeking back-to-back home wins.

A lively start saw both sides create chances but unable to add the finishing touch. RSL had control of possession early on in front of their home crowd but United looked threatening on the break. There were no clear-cut chances in the first 20 minutes.

Louis Crayton for DCU made the first save, comfortably fielding a header from dangerous Real forward Robbie Findley. At the other end, Christian Gomez crossed twice only for both attempts to be returned to him, then hit a weak shot wide of the RSL goal.

Luciano Emilio had an opportunity to put DC ahead. Brazilian midfielder Fred was played in on the right hand side of the penalty area and curved a perfect cross onto Emilio's head. Fred's compatriot could only direct his header well wide.

A few seconds later Salt Lake skipper Kyle Beckerman hit a daisy cutter from distance which called Crayton into action once again. United's keeper was able to palm the shot away from goal.

In the 38th minute, DC United took the lead with Luciano Emilio's third goal in three games. Neat football for United found rookie Chris Pontius in space on the edge of the box, and he chose to chip the ball in for Emilio, who finished with an easy header for 1-0.

It took RSL only two minutes to respond, and it was an horrific Crayton error which allowed it. Will Johnson found Jamison Olave, and Crayton spilled the Colombian's header into the corner of the net to level things up before half time.

The second half began with Beckerman rattling the DC crossbar with a left footed shot from the edge of the penalty area. Crayton was beaten hands down and RSL were unlucky not to lead, but United responded well.

As the hour approached all the momentum was with DC United, who were almost camped in their opponents' half. But it was Findley who found himself with the best chance of the half so far after Crayton flapped at a deep cross.

With that, Real took the initiative, led by the excellent Kyle Beckerman. A minute later Findley was prevented by a last ditch tackle after brilliantly bringing down a long ball over the top. DC were hanging on.

In the 73rd, Crayton made up for his errors with a wonderful save. Chris Wingert bent a cross in and Yura Movsisyan thumped a header towards goal, but Crayton was equal to it despite its power. A Salt Lake goal seemed more and more likely.

With ten minutes to go, Real finally took the lead. Will Johnson and Kyle Beckerman worked excellently together to play a searching ball into Findley, who deftly touched the ball off for Javier Morales to fire the ball home for 2-1. Johnson nearly grabbed a third in the 84th minute.

In the end, it was a deserved victory for Real Salt Lake. They shaded the match and looked that bit more threatening than DC United.

(Photo: Soccernet)

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Posted by Chris Nee

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