Real defender Matias Mantilla was whistled for a handball in the box in the 82nd minute and Christian Gomez calmly stepped up and buried the penalty kick past former D.C. United teammate Rimando for the 2-0 lead. It was the third penalty kick surrendered by Real Salt Lake this year, with the other two coming against D.C. United a few weeks ago. Conversely, RSL has yet to earn a penalty kick this year.

Gomez's penalty kick was his only shot of the night, a credit to RSL's determination to shut down one of the best midfielders in MLS.

"When you have a player like Christian Gomez you've got to have an idea where he is at all times, Kenny (Cutler) was charged with the responsibility when we were attacking he needed to have an eye for where Christian was," said Kreis.

The fact it limited Colorado's best player for 90 minutes yet still came away empty-handed was particularly frustrating for RSL.

RSL was forced to play without primary playmaker Javier Morales because of his groin injury, and his absence really limited the team's ability to push forward. Andy Williams started in his place, but Kreis believed he played too deep to be that effective in the attack.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com