July 11th, 2009 RSL vs Club America

RSL wins 1-0
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RSL capture XanGo Cup 2009


(by John Coon realsaltlake.com 7-11-09)

SANDY, Utah -- Facing one of Mexico's most storied soccer teams, Real Salt Lake rediscovered their home dominance.
The Claret-and-Cobalt made a goal by Javier Morales in the 54th minute stand up for a 1-0 victory against Club America on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium. The victory helped RSL claim the 2009 Xango Cup and move its record in friendly matches to 2-2-1.

RSL tried to use free kicks and corner kicks to give its offense an early jolt. The Utah side experienced little success in that approach.

Morales took a free kick in the third minute that careened into America's four-man defensive wall. Morales followed with a corner kick during the seventh minute that overshot the nearest Real player by a considerable distance.

The Claret-and-Cobalt nearly made something happen on a free kick in the 12th minute though. Clint Mathis took the kick and his shot attempt came to a halt at the foot of Angel Reyna. RSL quickly regained control of the ball and it made its way up to Tony Beltran on the left flank.

Beltran unloaded a rocket from long distance. His shot was perfectly on frame, but the ball did not make it past the hands of Club America 'keeper Armando Navarrette.

On the other end, the Aguilas turned up the attack and nearly got a goal through in between Morales' initial free kick and corner kick when Andres Chitiva drove down the right side and tried to thread it through the RSL defense from the edge of the penalty area. Chitiva's shot was parried away by Jamison Olave on a slide at the last minute.

Club America then set up corner kicks, both in the 10th minute and 25th minute, after penetrating deep into the penalty area. RSL defended both kicks well, keeping the Aguilas from creating anything too dangerous out of them.

Another threat from Club America materialized in the 31st minute when Salvador Cabanas broke free in RSL's half and fed the ball ahead to Chitiva. The Aguilas striker then tried to flick the ball back to Cabanas on a give-and-go, but Olave stepped in the passing lane and pushed the ball ahead to Real 'keeper Chris Seitz and he cleared it away to safety.

RSL struggled to generate offense at times as Club America found different ways to snuff plays out before they fully developed. One big stop came when a defender trailing Robbie Findley caught him as he entered into the penalty area and forced Findley to stumble forward -- preventing a potential one-on-one from materializing between him and Navarrette.

Perhaps the best scoring chance for RSL in the first half came in the final seconds of stoppage time. Yura Movsisyan collected a pass from Mathis and fired it at an angle from the left flank. Navarrette deflected the ball right back to Movsisyan and Andres Rodriguez took him down in a reckless tackle.

That foul set up a free kick from Morales who directed it to Olave at the top of the 6-yard box. Olave got his head under it, but the ball hooked just wide of the left post.

Club America came up with its first shot on goal quickly after halftime. Jean Beausejour uncorked a short right-footer from the middle of the area in the 48th minute that met Seitz on a line drive. Seitz snagged the ball at chest level to make the timely save.

On the other end, Morales set up Olave and Fabian Espindola with headers on corner kicks in the 47th and 51st minutes. Both players went high over their intended target.

Morales finally put RSL on the scoreboard in the 54th minute when he threaded the ball between Oscar Rojas and Pavel Pardo just outside the right edge of the penalty area and launched it over Navarrette's shoulder and into the upper left corner of the net.

RSL nearly added a second goal in the 64th minute. Tino Nunez flicked the ball up to the top of the area to Robbie Russell and Russell unleashed a laser right as soon as he received Nunez's pass. Russell's shot bounced off the crossbar and flew high into the air.

Tempers grew heated in the late stages of the match and increasing rough play led to a flurry of yellow cards for Club America and a red card for RSL -- issued to Movsisyan, who was already on the bench -- in the 78th minute.

The Aguilas nearly found an equalizer two minutes into stoppage time when Daniel Marquez brought down a long pass and sent it forward with his right foot. Seitz quickly covered up to stop that last gasp from Club America.

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