Real Salt Lake reaches CONCACAF quarterfinals with tie at Toronto

MLS standings

TORONTO — Javier Morales recovered from a bad knee in the nick of time.

Introduced as a substitute at halftime of Tuesday's night's CONCACAF Champions League game against Toronto, Real Salt Lake's midfield general got a clutch free-kick goal that gave Real Salt Lake a 1-1 draw with Toronto FC, and the single point required to send RSL to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Morales had missed the last four games through a mix of suspension time and a knee problem.

Morales' goal was the first time a Real Salt Lake player has scored at BMO Field since Toronto FC came into existence in 2007. That's a total of 428 minutes of scoreless soccer in Canada's largest city. RSL drew 0-0 with the Reds when they met in MLS play Aug. 28.

With a 2-0 win over Arabe Unido on Tuesday, Cruz Azul also clinched a spot in the quarters, transforming their mid-October group stage game in Sandy into a meaningless friendly.

Not that coach Jason Kreis will be complaining. He rested five of his regulars in Saturday's 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids so he could field the best possible lineup for the Toronto game, ensuring that his club could focus on MLS down the stretch.

But his plan went awry when bad weather scuttled the team's connecting flight in Atlanta on Sunday. Instead of arriving in Toronto on Sunday night, half the team still hadn't crossed the border on Monday morning. They arrived on a number of planes through the day. Kreis was forced to cancel practice and couldn't evaluate if Morales was ready to return or not.

"It's hard to describe how difficult the travel situation was," said Kreis.

Before the match, Morales went through a quick fitness test, but neither player nor coach had any idea how his knee would hold up.

But, after a goal from former Colorado Rapid Jacob Peterson — his first as a TFC player — gave the Reds a 1-0 halftime lead, Kreis and Morales agreed that it was time to roll the dice.

"Absolutely, it was a big gamble," said Kreis. "The question was, how many minutes could he last?"

"It was a risk we had to take," Morales said. "I felt OK. I wasn't sure that I could go 45 minutes, but we were lucky — everything was good."