"I'm tired of it, I'm exasperated — this is absolutely ridiculous, every single week we play here I feel like we're playing away. Every 50-50 call goes against us. My man (Nat Borchers) gets pushed down in the box, the defender has his arms up in front of him showing everybody he's clearly pushed my man down in the box and we don't even get a thought of a penalty kick. Where's the linesman then to help the referee? He was certainly there a few weeks ago to call a non offside's against us."

Kreis was fined and suspended earlier this year for critical comments about officiating, and another one might be on the way.

Thursday's match was chippy early, with DeRosario upending RSL's Jamison Olave with a hard foul at midfield. Four minutes later, Olave got even with a shove in the back, and by the 15th minute Olave was dinged with a yellow card for persistent infringement.

RSL outshot Houston 6-3 in the first half, but only one shot was directed on goal as it squandered several decent opportunities. Kyle Beckerman wasted the best chance in the 17th minute when his first touch let him down following a flicked on header from Kenny Deuchar.

Real continued to dictate the pace of the sloppy first half, with Beckerman, Robbie Findley and Kenny Deuchar each missing out on chances.

Real Salt Lake returns to action July 12 when it hosts the Columbus Crew at 7 p.m.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com