SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake survived Toronto FC’s late rally to edge the visitors, 2-1, on Saturday night. Jamison Olave and Andy Williams hit first-half goals to give RSL a comfortable lead, but Toronto's Dwayne De Rosario pulled back a goal from the penalty spot to keep things interesting down the stretch.
Toronto, having played a tough non-league game during midweek, elected to start with key players Dwayne De Rosario, Julian de Guzman, Sam Cronin and O’Brian White on the bench. The defense-first mentality, however, meant they rarely ventured into RSL's end during the first half.
That allowed Real Salt Lake to maintain the bulk of the possession, operating in the Toronto end and controlling the tempo for much of the opening 45 minutes.
But the visiting side were still able to create a couple of chances early and against the run-of-play. Wade Barrett fired off a long-distance effort, and a wide-open Joseph Nane attempted a header. However, RSL 'keeper Nick Rimando stymied both efforts.
RSL finally capitalized on all their possession when in the 14th minute Alvaro Saborio broke free in a crowded six-yard box to head a corner kick toward goal. Teammate Olave arrived on the scene with a defender in tow to tap it into the net, ensuring the score.
It appeared that Toronto was going to get out of the half with just a single-goal deficit, but Williams had other ideas. In the 42nd minute defender Tony Beltran found Williams completely unchecked near the upper left edge of the area. His entry pass found the midfielder with plenty of time and space, and Williams easily picked out the upper-left of the net from 18 yards out to give RSL a 2-0 lead.
Toronto opened the second half by making a three-way substitution, bringing De Rosario, de Guzman, and White onto the pitch. The trio helped bring a greater attacking quality, and they created a few chances. However, RSL's midfield maintained the bulk of the possession.
The visitors did manage to pull one back late in the game when Kyle Beckerman was called for a hand ball in the penalty area in the 88th minute. De Rosario stepped up to the spot and beat Rimando with a low shot, bringing the score to 2-1.
This created a few nervous final minutes for the home side and gave the visitors some energy, but Real Salt Lake was able to preserve the victory.
Scoring Summary:
RSL -- Jamison Olave 1 (Alvaro Saborio 2, Andy Williams 1) 14
RSL -- Andy Williams 1 (Tony Beltran 1) 42
TOR -- Dwayne De Rosario 6 (penalty kick) 88
Toronto FC -- Stefan Frei, Raivis Hscanovics (Dwayne De Rosario 46), Nana Attakora, Adrian Cann, Maksim Usanov, Dan Gargan, Amadou Sanyang (O'Brian White 46), Joseph Nane (Julian de Guzman 46), Martin Saric, Nick LaBrocca, Chad Barrett.
Real Salt Lake -- Nick Rimando, Robbie Russell (Chris Wingert 70), Nat Borchers, Jamison Olave, Tony Beltran, Collen Warner (Nelson Gonzalez 86), Kyle Beckerman, Andy Williams (Jean Alexandre 89), Will Johnson, Alvaro Saborio, Robbie Findley.
Misconduct Summary:
RSL -- Alvaro Saborio (caution; Handball) 21
RSL -- Collen Warner (caution; Reckless Foul) 47+
TOR -- Nana Attakora (caution; Reckless Foul) 49
RSL -- Jamison Olave (caution; Dissent) 50
TOR -- Julian de Guzman (caution; Reckless Tackle) 61
TOR -- Nick LaBrocca (caution; Reckless Tackle) 73
Referee: Kevin Stott
Referee's Assistants: Nate Clement; Steven Taylor
4th Official: Ramon Hernandez
Attendance: 12,659
Weather: Cloudy-and-10-degrees
