A stoppage time goal from Houston Dynamo’s Alex Dixon gave the home side the victory over a shocked Real Salt Lake team. RSL held the lead twice in this match but a resilient Houston team fought back. This was a difficult result to accept because the RSL team deserved a better outcome for the performance it put forth in the sweltering heat. RSL’s seven-year winless drought in Texas remained intact, as the club is now 0-17-2 all-time in the Lone Star State.
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“We’re heartbroken, there’s no doubt about it,” RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “You look around the locker room and all of us are feeling devastated about that, because you never want to be in a position where you have two leads and walk away with nothing. We would have at least liked to get the draw, and if we’re 30 seconds better there at the end, we walk away with at least a point, and we can pat ourselves on the back for all the hard work that we put into that. But to walk away with nothing, it feels very, very unfortunate.”
There were many positives to take away from this defeat. Fabian Espíndola tallied the first goal for RSL and also set up Luis Gil’s goal. The youngster, Gil was on the score sheet once more but could have gotten another tally. Offensively, RSL created many chances and converted twice. The coaching staff will be pleased about the progress offensively.
“I think there are a lot of positive things that went into this match tonight,” said Kreis. “Certainly the guys gave everything they had, so I’m pleased with that. I’m pleased with the number of chances we created, I’m pleased that we scored twice in Houston, and I’m pleased that we had two leads. Those are all positive things. Soccer is not always a one-sided affair, and so you have to look at both sides of the story, and the other half I’m pretty displeased about.”
Defensively, the club must do a better job holding the lead on the road. Anytime a club has a chance to pick up three points on the road is a noble day. The road struggles linger for RSL as the club is now winless in eight straight road affairs. This was a terrific opportunity to erase the road woes but it was not meant to be.
“We conceded a soft goal and, once we’ve done that, the momentum is going against us,” Kreis said. “Rather than getting out there in the second half and getting on our front foot like we did at the beginning of the first half, we didn’t get that done, and from that moment on we’re reeling a bit.”
Seven of the Claret-and-Cobalt’s final 11 matches will come away from the friendly confines of Rio Tinto Stadium. Does the club have enough confidence to put aside another setback and bounce back? Questions remain but somehow, RSL must find a better result in the next road match.
(image courtesy of realsaltlake.com)
