I thought the offensive push was there. The intent was there. The final execution wasn't there. – RSL coach Jeff Cassar
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Both of the goals Real Salt Lake allowed were unlucky.
That doesn’t mean they deserved anything out of Saturday’s game.
Nemanja Nikolic and Arturo Alvarez scored first-half goals, and the Chicago Fire beat Real Salt Lake 2-0 at a frigid Toyota Park. Playing without Chris Schuler (foot), Justen Glad (knee) and Aaron Maund (hamstring), RSL gave starts in the middle of the defense to David Horst and 23-year-old rookie Justin Schmidt.
That makeshift back line, or a game-time temperature of 28 degrees, wasn’t the biggest problem for RSL. Instead, it was an attack that struggled to generate clear chances. After opening the season with a 0-0 draw against Toronto FC, Real Salt Lake was hoping for a more potent offense.
Not having Joao Plata (hip) didn’t help, but RSL showed few signs it could challenge the Chicago defense. And when it did, the chances didn’t lead to much.
“I thought the offensive push was there. The intent was there. The final execution wasn’t there,” RSL coach Jeff Cassar said. “We had a few really good looks. Chicago did a really good job of clogging up that middle there and making the box tight, and so you need a little bit of excellence, and we didn’t have it again tonight."
And because of that, falling behind early wasn’t ideal, even if both goals could be considered flukes.
Chicago took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute when Nikolic got free behind the RSL defense and beat Nick Rimando. RSL was expecting an offside call since Nikolic was well behind the defense, but any call was nullified because he actually received the ball on an inadvertent back pass from Sunny, who was trying to dispossess the Fire’s Michael de Leeuw but poked the ball to Nikolic instead.
A linesman put his flag up signaling for offside, and Horst said referee Kevin Stott initially put his whistle up to his mouth but then gave a signal to keep playing. Unfortunately for them, RSL didn’t and the Fire capitalized.
“Once the ref puts his whistle to his mouth you think he’s going to blow it and he didn’t, and like they say you’ve got to play to the whistle, and we didn’t,” Horst said. “I think it’s a learning thing for both Schmidt and I, and Nick still almost saved it but that is an unlucky one, but we do have to play to the final whistle, and we didn’t.”
It didn’t take long for things to get worse.
Alvarez doubled Chicago’s lead in the 15th minute when he cut in from the right and saw his shot from just outside the 18-yard box get redirected by Horst and trickle past Rimando, who was wrong-footed by the deflection.
RSL knew that Alvarez, who spent 2011 with Real Salt Lake, is dangerous when he goes in from the right and shoots off his left foot. Instead of stopping that, RSL allowed Alvarez to do what he likes.
“I’ve got to do a better job once he gets to me, I’ve got to do a better job of closing him down (and) not even allowing a shot and not even giving him an opportunity for the ball to deflect off me,” Horst said.
Real Salt Lake then had to use its first substitution in the 26th minute after Jordan Allen had to leave the game because of a right quad strain and be replaced by Ricardo Velazco. Cassar didn’t have an update on Allen’s prognosis.
In the second half, there were more signs of life from the RSL offense, but Chicago goalie Jorge Bava wasn’t taxed and was only forced into one save all day. True, RSL might’ve done better with Plata, and acknowledged that fact, but it still didn’t entirely explain the attack or how hard things got after falling behind 2-0.
“Of course we missed (Plata), he’s an important player. He can score a goal from anywhere or bring something special like that,” attacker Albert Rusnak said. “It was a miss, but with him or without him if we give those goals up it will always be difficult to come back."