Game 1: Chicago vs. RSL 3/29/08

Chicago Fire at Real Salt Lake: A Play In One Act:

A husband and wife sit on a couch watching television...
Man: "Honey, change the channel. I've seen this one before."
Woman: "Oh yeah?"
Man: "Yeah, it's the one where RSL is in the season opener, controls the game, gets the lead, and then stupidly gives up a goal in extra time."
Woman: "But at least they still win, right? You did say that they control the game."
Man: (chuckles) "Oh, you'd think so wouldn't you? But, alas, no. They may control the flow of the game, but they also can't score. It's one of those dreaded 'Ties That Feel Like A Loss'"
Woman: (shudders) "Oh goodness, I will certainly change it, I don't like scary shows!"
Fade To Black
END

So as the game starts I see a sad yet familiar sight: American football lines on the pitch looking like they were painted yesterday. Sigh, that new stadium can't come soon enough. The RSL lineup was fairly predictable with just one or two curiousities. One is Yura Movsisyan over Robbie Findley and the other (not so surprising) was Carey Talley over Nathan Sturgis or Dema Kovalenko. Right after kick, Fabian Espindola (aka Espi) immediately looked ready, fighting for balls and playing some nice through balls. To me he looked much more aggressive than he ever has, which was very encouraging. The first half passed fairly uneventfully, but fairly pleasingly, with RSL controlling the midfield and possession. However, on the negative side, the final parts of the attack looked as weak as last year. Yura especially looked lost, missing a pretty easy header on a beautiful cross from Espi in the 6th minute, putting an awful "cross" to no one in the 19th, and then beating a defender (nice) but then making one too many moves and tripping and losing possession in the 21st. Despite having the control of the game and taking a large majority of the shots, RSL couldn't get one in the back of the net and went into halftime tied at 0.
Half grade: B+
A solid half with a few wasted chances. Espi looks good, Yura not so much.

Before I start the second half review, I'd just like to say that I hate the new font on the names on the back of the jersey. And the numbers? Even worse. The ones and sevens look identical. Just awful. Now back to the regularly scheduled review... The second half started out with an amusing incident. Blanco went down and RSL played on and soon turned it over to Chicago while Blanco still laid on the turf. The Fire kept playing for another minute before finally putting the ball out to get Blanco checked on. Why was this amusing? Becuase even his own teammates don't buy it when he goes down since he dives all over the place. In fact, in honor of Blanco, perhaps I shall start calling them the Chicago Louganises. Moving on, in the 49th, Yura missed another easy header off a nice Espi cross. He did, however, redeem himself for that one with a beautiful bicycle kick that went JUST wide in the 55th. In the 61st, Blanco went down with one of the most blatant flops I've ever seen and, of course, was not reprimanded. In the 63rd, Findley came in for Yura Movsisyan, which in my estimation was about....oh, 63 minutes too late. Then in the 69th Dema Kovalenko made his RSL debut, coming on for Andy Williams, who had a solid first half, but started to fade as time passed in the 2nd (will he ever be able to play a good 90?). Soon after, Dema whips a nasty cross into the box that is deflected into the net by Bakary Soumare (Hey! That rhymes!). Although it was not a goal scored by an RSL player, it was a deserved score for the reds as they had been in control of the whole game. In the 72nd, Espindola came out for the newest member of RSL, fresh off the plane, Mr. Kenny Deuchar, who, even on TV, is a big guy. Deuchar immediately looked active, forcing the issue with Chicago keeper Jon Busch and making him play the ball much more quickly than he otherwise would have. In the 78th Findley was taken down in the box, although the ref saw it as a dive and gave him a yellow card. I still say his heels were clipped, but even if he dove, why was he given a yellow? Cuautemoc Louganis was diving all day! A terrible double standard that MLS should really crack down on and quickly. In the 82nd, Dema almost put the game away, hitting a great volley off a deflected ball, unfortunately Busch was up to the task. In the 87th, Mantilla almost handed a goal to the Louganises when he hit a terrible header in the box that went right in front of the net right where Chicago could have easily put it away. Luckily the rest of the RSL defense was up to the task and cleared the ball. Right after the ref set another bad double standard, giving Beckerman a yellow for a tackle that was no worse than what Chicago had been getting away with all day. Even with all this, RSL was keeping control of the ball and looking like they'd run out the clock and walk away with the 3 point. Then, in the 2nd minute (of 4) of extra time, it happened (like it always does to RSL). Carr beat Ian Joy down the sideline and put a nice cross through the box that got past 3 RSL players (who dove in desperation for the ball, taking them out of the play). Finally, RSL was able to get a foot on it and get a semi-clearance. But, of course, it fell to a WIDE OPEN Louganis at the edge of the 18 who drilled one past Rimando to steal 2 points away from RSL. The one big defensive lapse on the day and RSL can't survive it. A shame.
Half grade: C+

Player grades:
Nick Rimando-7 Didn't have much to do, wasn't much he could do on the goal.
Chris Wingert-7 Got forward, defended pretty well.
Nat Borchers-6 Quiet game, but that's not always a bad thing from a CB.
Matias Mantilla-5 Decent game, but that header loses him a point.
Ian Joy-5 Showed a lot of promise, got forward well, but made a few mistakes.
Andy Williams-7 Lost steam, but played well for the most part.
(Dema Kovalenko 69)-7 Had a few good plays early, disappeared late
Javier Morales-6 Too quiet a game for a playmaker
Carey Talley-6 Didn't see much of him
Kyle Beckerman-7 Aggressive and actually put a long shot on net (wow!).
Fabian Espindola-8 One of his best games in an RSL kit.
(Kenny Deuchar 73)-7 Pressed the issue, held the ball in the corner well.
Yura Movsisyan-4 Knocked off the ball way too easily, missed too many good chances.
(Robbie Findley 62)-6 Looked better than at the U-23s.

Pros:
-Espindola had a good game and showed a physical game I don't remember.
-New defenders Borchers and Joy both showed flashes. Borchers looked more settled, but Joy looked like he will be good once he gets fully comfortable.
-Kovalenko looked pretty sharp.
-The midfield looked really good, holding the Fire at bay.
-RSL looked capable of building a solid attack out of the back for the first time in....well, ever.

Cons:
-Another super late defensive lapse leads to another super disappointing season opening tie.
-Yura did not look good at all.
-Andy still can't play a solid game for more than about 50 minutes.
-Blanco dives more than the US Olympic diving team.
-The ref.

Game grade: C+ or F (only counting the 92nd minute game-tying goal part)
RSL's midfield really outplayed Chicago and minus the one lapse, the defense held strong. Finishing was poor as always, it'll be interesting to see what Deuchar can do in a full 90.

Man of the match: Fabian Espindola

Assclown of the match: As much as I want to give it to Mr. Louganis, this award is for referee Terry Vaughn. The first 60 minutes were just terribly officiated both ways (missing obvious calls on both sides). Then, to add insult to injury, he then dedicated himself to terrible double standard calls like the Findley yellow (that should have been a PK) when he allowed Blanco to dive all over or the Beckerman yellow when Chicago had been just as bad on tackles. Well done, Mr. Vaughn, you are truly an assclown.

[Note: This review was hastily written while I was spacing out AND watching "That 70s Show" so if it is terrible (and I have a feeling it is; I don't even remember what I just wrote) I apologize. But, at the very least, I said I'd have one up and I do!]