Real Salt Lake’s road struggles continued Saturday evening at BMO Field as the club lost to Toronto FC 1-0. In a match where RSL should have attained at minimum a point, the team left Canada with a bad taste. The road loss puts RSL at 2-4-3 on the season away from Rio Tinto Stadium, where it has not won since April 9. RSL must get used to the road quickly, as eight of its remaining 12 contests will take place away from the confines of Rio Tinto Stadium.
“Soccer is a very cruel game, that’s what I walk away from this game and think to myself, this is a cruel game sometimes,” RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “I think that we did enough tonight, certainly to pick up a draw, and on a different night we walk away from here with all three points. If we score some of those chances that we had tonight things look completely different.”
The RSL side had the better of the quality chances and ball movement against TFC, yet the visitors could not find that elusive goal. Kyle Beckerman and Fabian Espindola both went close and their efforts glanced off the crossbar. RSL created the necessary chances but lacked the finishing once more and that was the difference in this match.
“We were just extremely unlucky,” RSL midfielder Will Johnson said. “As far as chances go I think it was pretty one-sided. But if you don’t put your chances away you are always leave yourself liable for a lucky goal and that’s what happened.”
TFC converted when it mattered as striker Joao Plata sent a firm shot along the ground that went by two RSL defenders and banked off the far post into the net. It wasn’t pretty but it was effective and it was the winning tally. TFC’s only wins this season have come at home.
“I thought that they were better than the last time that we played them,” Beckerman said. “I think that our lack of finishing our plays kept them in the game. That’s the name of the game – if you don’t score you can’t change the game. We just missed our chances.”
RSL is winless (0-3-3) all-time in six games in Toronto, including a 1-1 draw in the group stage of last year’s CONCACAF Champions League. To pile on more bad news, RSL defender Chris Wingert suffered a broken wrist in this contest.
The road trip continues for RSL as the club visits Houston Dynamo this Saturday.
(image courtesy of mlssoccer.com)
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