Adam Cristman scored New England's lone goal against Real Salt Lake. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Adam Cristman gave New England an early lead with his fourth goal of the season in the eighth minute, but Real Salt Lake responded with goals in the 11th and 60th minutes, as the Revolution fell 2-1, Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The loss ended New England’s (8-4-3, 27 pts.) unbeaten run at seven games, which was the longest of the season by any team in MLS and the Revolution’s longest since a similar seven-game run in 2007. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake (5-5-4, 19 pts.) remained undefeated at home and stretched its own unbeaten streak to five games, which ties a club record.
New England took the lead in the eighth minute, when Matt Reis distributed the ball from Revs area up the center of the field. Cristman beat Nate Borchers to the ball just outside the penalty area. Borchers hesitated, thinking GK Nick Rimando was going to take the ball, and Cristman split them, shooting into the empty net.
“It was a great effort,” Steve Ralston said of Cristman’s goal. “A lot of guys would have given up on it. He is always working and he stuck his head in there. He could have gotten whacked, but he ended up scoring a nice goal.”
The Revs lead was short lived, however. Just three minutes later, RSL equalized on an own goal by Jay Heaps. Javier Morales took a 27 yard free kick after Cristman fouled Robbie Findley. The ball dipped into a goalmouth crowd and, as Heaps was jostling with Findley in front of the goal, the ball went off his head and in.
RSL took advantage of its first opportunity of the second half to take a 2-1 lead in the 60th minute. Morales’ long-range shot was deflected but slipped through the New England backline to Tino Nunez, who ran onto the loose ball and slotted it past Reis to the far post. The goal was the first professional tally for Nunez, who entered the match for the injured Findley late in the first half.
“My eyes just opened up really big; I didn’t know what to do,” said Nunez. “I’ll think about it more next time.”
Following the loss, Revolution coach Steve Nicol pointed out the hardships of the last week. “You know it was tough playing Wednesday night and then traveling 12 hours to get here, that’s not easy to do, particularly when you have the altitude and it’s a lot warmer than we are used to. We won’t be sad to see the back of this place.”
There were numerous chances for both sides in the opening minutes, with the first dangerous chance falling to Real Salt Lake in the sixth minute. Morales – who leads MLS with seven assists – sent a curling free kick from the right wing into the area for Kenny Deuchar, but the Scottish forward’s header struck the right post.
Sainey Nyassi – who started on the left side of midfield in the absence of Mauricio Castro but later moved back to his more comfortable right wing position – forced Rimando into an important save in the 34th minute to keep the score even. Nyassi met Kheli Dube’s long cross-field pass with a first-time shot from the right side of the box, but Rimando got down well to save the low drive.
Real Salt Lake had a chance to take the lead in first-half stoppage time, as Morales was presented with yet another free-kick opportunity, this time from 25 yards out and in the center of the field. The Argentine midfielder curled a right-footed shot around the wall and towards the upper corner, but Reis was well positioned and saved the shot comfortably.
The Revs had chances to score the equalizer in the 68th and 70th minutes, but failed to find the net on either occasion. First, Chris Albright’s glancing header skipped wide of the left post, while Jeff Larentowicz’s long-range shot was saved by Rimando just two minutes later.
Wellesley, Mass., native Chris Tierney made his MLS and Revolution debut in the 77th minute in an effort to push for an equalizer, but the Revs ultimately failed to create any serious scoring threats late in the match.
Reis finished with six saves, while Rimando stopped five shots to earn the win.
The meeting was the last-ever between the two sides at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as RSL is scheduled to move into its new stadium later this season. The loss was the Revs’ first-ever at Rice-Eccles Stadium, as they had gone 2-0-1 in three previous trips to Salt Lake City.
