In dramatic fashion, Real Salt Lake silenced a sold out crowd in Chicago to secure its first appearance in the MLS Cup Final. Despite outplaying the 3-time champions Chicago Fire, RSL couldn't find the back of the net in 120 minutes of play. The Eastern Conference showdown went to penalty kicks in which each side gets 5 shots on goal from the penalty spot to determine the winner. RSL was first to miss a shot, but Goalkeeper Nick Rimando would make it up with a fine save. In fact, he gave RSL the advantage when the spot kick went into sudden death by making an unbelievable save. With the chance to win the Eastern Conference, RSL forward Fabian Espindola shot high to let Chicago back into the shootout. But Rimando took it upon himself to ensure that the Fire would not burn on. He snuffed another shot. The late RSL substitute Ned Grabavoy had the second chance to win it for RSL and he made no mistake. Chicago keeper Jon Bushe got a touch on the shot, but it had too much pace to keep out of goal. The crowd went silent and Real Salt Lake celebrated as the rightful victors. With 3 saves, Nick Rimando was the clear hero and man-of-the-match. No one believed in the last seeded squad RSL, but finding their form as of late, the squad has proved to be unstoppable, knocking off the top seeds in the East, moving on to claim the West against LA on Sunday!
let me be the first to say booyah! With the Jazz struggling Real has kept me happy. Too bad their season can't extend through the winter...
ReplyDeleteI thought the Fire match-up was intense until I watched them play against Galaxy. I thought that there would only be a slight chance for victory since their lowest paid player is considered to be at the same level as our highest paid. But Dave Checketts sure knows how to put a team together. For Utah's first professional championship title, I'm glad it was the underdogs!
ReplyDeleteReal Salt Lake is truly a Cinderella Story of the year. I mean, sneaking into the playoffs with a losing record and ended up in a championship game against the star-studded team of the LA Galaxy. How can it get better than that? By winning it all! It's truly a great story and I'm glad that they've brought Utah it's first pro sport title in 40 years. I wish the Utah Jazz would win a title as well but I'm still a fan of them no matter what.
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