Real Salt Lake notebook: Coach goes for broke — and his big gamble pays off

SANDY — Real Salt Lake's Jason Kreis has been an aggressive coach all season at Rio Tinto Stadium, always willing to push forward for a victory at home at the expense of a potential counter attack goal. Saturday's playoff match with Columbus wasn't any different.

In the 80th minute, he inserted Robbie Russell into the match in place of Tony Beltran and switched his players to a more aggressive 3-5-2 formation. There were some inherent risks with the change, but Kreis wasn't concerned.

"I wanted to win in the worst way, and was willing to make some changes to make that happen, to go for it," said Kreis. "It wasn't going to be a 0-0 contest for sure."

Russell loved hearing the message more than anyone.

"He said 'no fear' right before I went on the field, and whenever a coach says that it gets you a little pumped," said Russell. "We're at home, it's the playoffs. What do we have to lose."

Some of RSL's best possession and chances against Columbus came in those final 10 minutes, including the game's only goal in the 88th minute.

"When you're at home and the other team is sitting back the way they were, you have to take some risks to get the win," said Russell.

A LITTLE PAYBACK: At times this season, RSL has struggled with lapses during seemingly innocent dead-ball situations. And Kreis has been critical of his players for that and the disappointing results that ensued.

On Saturday, it was the Columbus Crew that was burned by a slight lapse. In the 88th minute, Will Johnson quickly threw the ball in to Yura Movsisyan on a restart near the left corner flag, and Movsisyan capitalized by darting toward the box and sending a cross to Robbie Findley, who scored.

"We focused on it a lot earlier in the season and we caught them on that," said Findley.

SURPRISING EXCLUSION: Columbus' towering defender Chad Marshall was a game-time decision heading into Saturday's match with a knee injury, but he played the full 90 minutes in his first match since Sept. 13. He didn't seem hampered at all.

More surprising was who wasn't on the field. In an attempt to shake up his team's stagnant attack, Columbus coach Robert Warzycha didn't start leading scorer Guillermo Barros Schelotto, a move that definitely surprised RSL.

"Real surprised," Kreis said. "I don't know the inside of the Columbus Crew locker room. I don't have all of the information that goes into that decision. But ... we felt good when he wasn't in the lineup and we felt good when he didn't come in late in the game."

Warzycha also rested forward Alejandro Moreno in favor of Emilio Renteria and Steven Lenhart, but it's hard to imagine Schelotto and Moreno not being in the lineup Thursday in a must-win match for the Crew.