Poor finishing again culprit in RSL's loss in MLS home finale


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SANDY — Out of the MLS playoff race and with a CONCACAF Champions League match looming, Real Salt Lake couldn't break down FC Dallas in a 1-0 loss Saturday night.

But poor finishing doomed RSL (11-14-8, 41 points), which owned more than 66 percent of possession throughout and firing 19 shots, including five on goal. RSL suffered its 14th shutout defeat in 33 games this season.

The lone breakthrough came in the 57th minute, when Mauro Diaz's pass split Salt Lake center backs Aaron Maund and Elias Vasquez, and David Texeira let it roll into his path and inside the 18-yard box before blasting it over a diving Jeff Attinella.

"Really unacceptable," RSL coach Jeff Cassar said after the match. "Two simple balls, two simple passes and it's in the back of our net. I think we tuned off for a half-second."

Rain began to fall just prior to the buildup that led to Texeira netting the game-winner, and it continued during the remainder of RSL's final league home match of the year.

The home side's playoff hopes had all-but washed away for the first time in seven seasons — a streak that was the longest in MLS — and any hope of victory in the regular-season finale was extinguished by RSL's anemic finishing.

In the 31st minute, Javier Morales played a picture-perfect ball off a free kick from the right edge of the 18 onto the head of Kyle Beckerman near the back post, but the RSL captain's header sailed over the crossbar from just 6 yards out.

RSL continued to push forward in search of a first-half lead, and after a decent string of passes in front of the 18, the ball ricocheted fortuitously to Juan Manuel Martinez about 12 yards out, but his shot was saved in the 36th minute.

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"I thought we got ourselves into good spots all night long," Cassar said. "If it was a different time in the year you would say let's keep continuing to get in there and over a stretch of the year you'll get the results that you wanted. But obviously we're not in that."

After dominating the opening 45 minutes, it seemed it was a matter of time before RSL would find a goal. Instead, RSL was left to rue missed opportunities.

"There's times in a game where you need to capitalize," Cassar said. "Dallas was bending all over the place in the first half, but they didn't break. We didn't make them break, we didn't put it in the back of the net and we fell asleep on a play and we paid the price."

On a night that Beckerman broke the MLS record for appearances by a field player with the 379th in his 17 seasons, RSL "created enough chances to score, to win," Cassar said.

RSL still leads its Champions League group and can clinch a spot in the knockout stage with a draw or win Tuesday night against Guatemalan side Municipal. Kyle Spencer is a freelance journalist residing in Orem. You can find him on Twitter @kyledspencer or reach him by email at kspence04@gmail.com.

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