Ellinger makes all the right moves for RSL

For a half, Real Salt Lake was frustrated by its inability to break down Kansas City's defense.

A formation change and a pair of timely substitutions by coach John Ellinger helped turn the tide.

Ellinger switched out of RSL's normal 4-4-2 formation at halftime and into a 4-3-3. Moving rookie Mehdi Ballouchy into a more free midfield role eventually paid off as RSL scored twice over the final 12 minutes to come from behind and beat Kansas City 2-1 Saturday evening.

"I think the changes in the second half helped us," said Ellinger.

Kansas City normally plays a rigid 4-3-3, with Jack Jewsbury, Sasha Victorine and Kerry Zavagnin operating within the Wizards' midfield.

RSL wasn't horrible during the first half, but it rarely broke down Kansas City's defense. Ellinger said that was because Kansas City's midfield trio was basically playing 3-on-2 against Salt Lake's two central midfielders — Carey Talley and Kenny Cutler.

Accordingly, RSL switched to a 4-3-3 at halftime to match up better with Kansas City: Ballouchy moved into a central role, while Jason Kreis and Chris Klein operated in wide positions.

"It put him in a position where Kerry (Zavagnin) had to work in the second half," said Ellinger.

The tactical changes helped Salt Lake, but when the score remained 1-0 midway through the second half, Ellinger threw more attacking options onto the field. And substitutes Jeff Cunningham and Andy Williams provided Salt Lake with the catalyst for its second-half goals.

Cunningham took over for Atiba Harris as the point man up top, while Williams, who came on for defender Nelson Akwari, occupied a free attacking role.

Ballouchy scored his first MLS goal nine minutes after Williams came onto the field, and Salt Lake went ahead two minutes after that when Cunningham scored from a ridiculous angle on the right.

Once Real Salt Lake got its second goal in the 80th minute, Ellinger made another tactical move to hold onto the lead.

He immediately shifted Talley, who's played in midfield the last two games, to central defense. The move helped RSL absorb Kansas City's pressure over the final stages of the match.

Salt Lake coughed up a one-goal lead three times during the early season, but according to Ellinger, RSL's 3-0 win over the L.A. Galaxy last weekend gave it confidence to hang on against Kansas City.

"We gained a lot of confidence last week," he said. "At that moment (when Real went ahead 2-1), they're feeling pretty confident they can hold that lead for 10 minutes.

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