Still winless: World-class strike in 82nd minute determines game

FRISCO, Texas — Sporting jeans and a tie, or a "Texas tuxedo" as he put it, Jason Kreis truly believed his Texas homecoming Sunday would be the night Real Salt Lake finally got off the schneid.

It didn't pan out that way, a portion of which he says he can live with despite the obvious disappointment.

He's OK with the fact his team put forth a spirited second-half effort and that it took a world-class strike from Chris Gbandi in the 82nd minute to seal FC Dallas' 2-1 win.

It's RSL's disinterested first-half that concerns Kreis the most.

"The whole first half, for some reason we struggled to get moving and get anything going. I don't think we strung together two passes almost the entire first half," said Kreis, who spent the first nine years of his MLS career with Dallas. "It looked to me that the guys were either tired or just weren't up for it, and both are unacceptable for different reasons."

If the team was indeed tired despite its last match coming 10 days ago, Kreis ensures that it won't happen again with a better approach in training.

That second explanation just doesn't jive with Kreis' expectations.

"I'm just going to keep looking around the room and find the guys who believe in it as much as I do," said Kreis. "If any of them look me in the eye, they will see that I believe. I guess I'm going to have to look around and see who else believes."

He's got to do something, because RSL is now seven matches into the 30-game season and still doesn't have a win.

With continued efforts like Sunday's first-half, Real may not win a game all year. At the same time, its second-half effort gives the club hope, albeit a diminishing one.

"There's definitely frustration because we're not getting the three points we want, and today we needed a win," said Real keeper Nick Rimando. "The best thing we can do is look at the next game."

That next match is Wednesday, a U.S. Open Cup match at Colorado. Real's next league match is Sunday at Chicago, the third of four straight away matches.

The effort must get better if Real hopes to get anything out of either.

FC Dallas dominated possession from the opening whistle, and Kreis doesn't think it had anything to do with losing midfielder Carey Talley to a right leg injury in the opening 10 minutes.

Arturo Alvarez finally capitalized on all the possession in the 26th minute with a brilliant individual effort in which he dribbled between Jack Stewart and Mehdi Ballouchy, and then unspooled a powerful left-footed blast from 20 yards out into the upper reaches of the net.