June 7th, 2007 RSL vs Chinese national team

RSL wins 1-0
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RSL earns much-needed win


(by Peter Richin realsaltlake.com 6-7-07)

SALT LAKE CITY - After a long hiatus, Real Salt Lake earned a victory on Thursday when the Chinese national team came to Rice-Eccles Stadium.
To be sure, RSL hardly cares that the win does not count in the Major League Soccer standings, or that the victory came against a team ranked 73rd in the world. Just getting the 1-0 win, the first one since April 18, has got to feel like two lungs full of clean air for RSL.

The game gave Real coach Jason Kreis a chance to experiment with his lineup. The teams agreed to allow 11 substitutions, giving Kreis a chance to start many seldom-used players; only Chris Seitz, Nikolas Besagno, Jack Stewart and Atiba Harris had seen a start in Major League Soccer play.

A couple RSL players started the game in unusual positions. Jamie Watson, seldom-used on the first team, has a knack for providing a spark as a forward but started the game on the right side of midfield. And Harris, who has only ever played as a forward for Real, started the game as a holding midfielder.

Real had the first look at the goal in the ninth minute when Chris Brown picked a China defender's pocket at the top of the box. The ball bounced over to Andy Williams, who charged and shot from 15 yards away and sent the ball over the crossbar.

As the match progressed, China found a way to challenge Real's strategy -- the visitors played tightly enough to shut down RSL's short-combination passing and forced Real to play long balls over the top. China also showed no hesitation to shoot the ball, either from distance or after working into the box.

China's Li Tie had a strong shot in the 30th minute after taking a pass from the opposite side of the box; he aimed for the goal from the right side of the box and shot with his right. Seitz, however, had charged out of the goal area and was able to pull the ball in right off of Li's foot.

Real had another chance in the 34th minute after China had a hand ball just shy of 30 yards away from the goal. Williams took the free kick, shooting it straight for the upper left corner of the goal, but the ball flew a foot wide and high.

China found itself with a fine chance in the 40th minute after Harris gave up the ball 30 yards away from his own goal. The ball found its way to Hao Junmin, who unspooled a rocket towards the goal, but Seitz was up to the task and pulled the ball out of the air for the save.

By halftime, China had taken 10 shots, compared to RSL's two. Five of China's shots were taken by Dong Fangzhou, who plays professionally for Manchester United. China's offense came out on fire for the opening minutes of the second half as Dong and Hao each created chances in the box.

Real earned a free kick 30 yards out in the 50th minute; Williams took the kick, sending it to the far side of the box looking for a trio of onrushing teammates. Harris got his head on it, but the shot was too high.

Real earned a pair of good looks in the next 10 minutes. After a run down the left sideline, a cross found Watson eight yards away from the right post, but one-touch attempt hit the outside netting. Harris also created a look for himself after a free kick -- he used his height, footwork and passion to hold onto the ball and get a shot on frame.

At the 63rd minute, Kreis began changes. He inserted Chris Lancos, Alecko Eskandarian, Freddy Adu and Kenny Cutler, and began pushing players forward in an attempt to get the goal. Initially, it took the substitutions some time to acclimate to the pace -- Real did not create any clean looks at the goal, but were able to move the action into China's end of the field.

But in the end, the moves paid off in the 81st minute. A long, high cross from the right sideline found Chris Brown towards the left side of the goal area. Brown deflected it to the right, where Eskandarian was waiting for a quick touch that bounded the ball inside the right post. It was Eskandarian's first goal with Real, and it gave the home side the 1-0 lead that stood up to the end.