Real Salt Lake: Same old story as RSL falls on road

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Real Salt Lake could not suspend its road woes Saturday night and lost to the Chicago Fire 1-0 at Toyota Park.

It was a game that freshly suspended head coach Jason Kreis watched from the press box.

He was serving the first of a two-game suspension given Friday by the MLS for the red card he received in the 4-2 comeback victory over Dallas on July 24. He also was fined a total of $3,500. The normal penalty for such a red card is a one-game suspension.

"The way it was explained to me, because it was caught on television, it made it more of a public issue, perhaps more than I knew it was or thought it was," he said after the game.

That and the fact it was his third suspension in the last two seasons may explain the seeming harshness of the penalty.

Kreis was escorted to Radio Booth No. 3 on the press box level at Toyota Park an hour before the game by Chicago Fire staffers. Assistant coach Robin Fraser was officially the designated coach. Kreis could not make radio contact with the team or address them at halftime.

Kreis also thought his team deserved better, though ultimately RSL fell to 1-7-2 on the road.

"We created enough quality chances and limited our opponents' chances that we deserved a draw," Kreis said. "But this time of the year, it comes down to individual plays. And it can be frustrating when we emphasize to players, hey, we have to be alert on defending set pieces."

That set piece and individual effort for the Fire came off a throw-in in the 76th minute. Tim Ward floated a cross over defender Nat Borchers' head, and Patrick Nyarko broke past defender Tony Beltran to head a 12-yard shot past goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

"We battled a good team in a very hard place to play," Rimando said. "It came on a throw-in, something we preach about."

RSL had its captain back with Kyle Beckerman starting at midfield. But even that wasn't enough to help RSL to its first win at the Fire. RSL has managed only one draw in five trips against the Fire.

"We had some really good stuff at times," Beckerman said. "It was kind of a back-and-forth game. We made them play some defense and they made us play some defense. It was a stalemate with nobody putting anything away. We had a couple really good chances. We need to put them under pressure and got them on the ropes. But we didn't get that goal to make them really feel it. On the road, you have to make them feel it."

The shutout was the fourth consecutive in MLS play for Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch.

Up until the 76th minute, Rimando had been the most impressive of the two goalkeepers with several outstanding saves to keep the game scoreless on a night where the early footing was slick from pregame drizzle.

The most pressing moment for RSL came in the 35th minute off a Fire corner. During a scramble for a slop ball, the Fire's Bakary Soumare got a leg on the ball and poked it toward the goal line, where Rimando curled around the ball in the fetal position before it crossed.

The best offensive chances for RSL came in the second half. In the 72nd minute, Robbie Findley hit the crossbar from 25 yards. In the 68th minute, Javier Morales sent a 20-yard shot just high. In the 89th minute, Beckerman put a shot just wide right.

Findley replaced forward Yura Movsisyan at the half. Movsisyan left with a strained right rotator cuff, suffered early in the first half, but said it was only a minor injury.