Goalkeeper Chris Seitz makes four saves to earn his eighth clean sheet of the year
SANDY, Utah (Saturday, Sept. 24) – FC Dallas (15-8-8, 53 points) held Real Salt Lake scoreless to earn a point tonight at Rio Tinto Stadium.
In addition to making four saves on the evening, Chris Seitz sprang the first scoring opportunity of the night for FC Dallas with a long pass up the right flank to Maxi Urruti in the eighth minute. Urruti won a header into the path of right back Atiba Harris, who returned the ball to Urruti at the top of the area. The forward held the ball and waited for Mauro Diaz to arrive on the scene before knocking a short pass back to him. Diaz took a touch and fired a shot that rang off the post to Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando’s right side.
Seitz showed up again in the 23rd minute when a FC Dallas clearance attempt was intercepted by RSL’s Kyle Beckerman. The U.S. international attempted to beat Seitz from distance with a hard shot towards the post to the goalkeeper’s right side. Seitz read the shot well and was able to make a diving save to his right side.
Two-minutes later Seitz made a second outstanding save, this time on Juan Manuel Martinez, after Salt Lake was awarded a free kick from just outside the area. Martinez struck the ball well, getting the shot over the wall while keeping it from sailing over the bar. Seitz saw the shot all the way and slapped it over the crossbar for a Salt Lake corner kick.
Beckerman setup Demar Phillips with a point-blank chance for Real in the 29th minute. For the third time in a six-minute span, Seitz withstood the pressure, punching away Phillips’ shot at the near post and then gobbling up the ensuing corner kick.
Diaz set the table for Walker Zimmerman on a free kick from near midfield in the 39th minute. Dallas’ number 10 sent a ball to the back post towards Matt Hedges but the defender allowed the pass to continue on to Zimmerman, who was just inside the six-yard box. Zimmerman got good pace on the header, nodding it low to Rimando’s left side, but the veteran goalkeeper was able to make a diving save to keep the match scoreless.
Just before the half, Zimmerman made an excellent sliding tackle to take the ball off the feet of Olmes Garcia, who was in alone on goal, sending Dallas into halftime tied for the 10th time this season.
Dallas blocked a series of shots to deny Salt Lake of several scoring attempts following a corner kick in the 77th minute.
Seitz made another point blank save on Jordan Allen one minute later, keeping the teams deadlocked heading into the final 10 minutes of the match.
After withstanding a barrage from Real Salt Lake for most of the second half, FC Dallas gained some possession in the 82nd minute and began to search for the go-ahead goal. Ryan Hollingshead earned a corner for FCD in the 89th minute and Maynor Figueroa nearly found Tesho with a long pass over the top of the Salt Lake defense, but the Canadian international could not bring the ball down before Rimando swallowed up the pass.
Scoring Summary:
NONE
FC Dallas – Chris Seitz, Atiba Harris, Matt Hedges, Walker Zimmerman, Maynor Figueroa, Carlos Gruezo, Kellyn Acosta, Mauro Rosales (Ryan Hollingshead 57), Mauro Diaz (Victor Ulloa 71), Michael Barrios (Tesho 78), Maxi Urruti.
Substitutes Not Used: Jesse Gonzalez, Carlos Ruiz, Norberto Paparatto, Aubrey David.
Real Salt Lake – Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Justen Glad, Demar Phillips, Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales (Joao Plata 67), Luke Molholland, Juan Manuel Martinez, Jordan Allen, Olmes Garcia (Pedro Baez 85).
Substitutes Not Used: Lalo Fernandez, Omar Holness, Sunday Stephen, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert.
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Luke Mulholland (caution) 39
DAL – Kellyn Acosta (caution) 85
DAL – Chris Seitz (caution) 90+1
Referee: Jair Marrufo
AR1 (bench): Frank Anderson; AR2 (opposite): Corey Rockwell; 4th: Allen Champman.
Weather: Clear, 58
Attendance: 20,069
