Real Salt Lake returning to site of only road victory

Returning to the site of Real Salt Lake's first, last and only road victory will not be an easy task. Real defeated the L.A. Galaxy on May 13, 3-0 for the franchise's lone win away from home in its short history, but that was a last-place Galaxy team playing uninspiring soccer. Tonight's 8:30 p.m. match will be different.

The Galaxy overtook Real in the standings of the Western Conference thanks to two consecutive victories. The two wins have coincided with the return of the team's two World Cup participants in Landon Donovan and Chris Albright. While Donovan scored all three of the team's goals in the two wins— 2-0 over Kansas City on July 1, and 1-0 over New York July 4— the team also posted its third consecutive shutout with Albright bolstering the defense.

"Obviously they got a big boost getting those guys back," said defender Eddie Pope, who is expected to start and play an anticipated 90 minutes after being removed from RSL's last match at halftime with a sore back. "They are playing some better soccer and we are going to have to play well and concentrate to stop them. We need to stop them offensively and take advantage of our chances."

What Pope and the rest of the team realize is the "them" they need to concentrate on stopping begins, and usually ends, with Donovan. The superstar has been a dagger in the side as he's tallied four goals and two assists against Real in five games.

"Everybody knows that Landon is a special, special player," said Ellinger. "I am just tired of him being special against us."

Of course, knowing that they need to stop Donovan and actually going out and accomplishing it are two different things. Real has employed different tactics with varying success. They have tried marking him man-up, or they have used a zoning defense around him. They've tried to take him away completely and make it a 10-on-10 match, but in each case both players and coach know what the true method is.

"You really need to stay up on him and not let him turn and make those dangerous runs at you," Pope said. "He is so good when he turns and faces you and gets going with the ball. The key is to keep tight on him and make him come back to the ball and pass it off rather than turn on you."

"We have to do a better job on him," said Ellinger of the first meeting between the two teams where Donovan had a goal and an assist in leading L.A. to a 3-2 win. "We have to play him tight. You can't let him get the ball and run at you."