SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake's 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday evening did not just provide a haul of much-needed points – it exorcised a few of the team's demons, as well.
After suffering an embarassing, late-game meltdown in a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids last weekend, the team decided to hold a players-only meeting and get everything out in the open.
The meeting apparently worked wonders, and there was little sign of a troubled team as RSL comfortably topped the Dynamo thanks to goals from Javier Morales and Joao Plata.
Morales declined to share too many details of what happened in the meeting, but he did say that the team spoke to each other candidly.
“I don’t want to talk too much about that meeting,” Morales said in the locker room after the match. “But when people talk and say everything in the face, I think it helps a lot. I think right now we’re playing as a team. We’re fighting for each other. We’re working hard. You know that thing that always was around here, the team is the star, I think we’re back there right now.”
Morales opened the scoring against Houston off of a stunning half volley that rebounded off the post and into the back of the net in the 36th minute. It was the acting captain’s fourth goal of the season to go along with six assists.
Plata also got on the score sheet for his first league goal of the season in the 65th minute. He worked a beautiful give-and-go with Morales before skipping across the face of goal and burying the chance. After missing 11 matches due to an injury suffered in the preseason, the Ecuadorian seems to finally be rounding into form.
“I think it’s going to be great for his confidence,” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar, who watched the match from the stands while serving a suspension, said of the goal. “[Plata’s] been doing a lot of the right things. He’s been getting into those positions and today was great because he came from an out wide position, came in, took somebody on and it was a fantastic finish. So we’re really happy for him and hopefully there’s a lot more to come.”
RSL built on their midweek victory over the LA Galaxy in the US Open Cup and strung two victories together for just the third time this season. The victory over Houston nudged the Utah side up to seventh place in the Western Conference, just one spot out of the playoff picture.
It might be premature to jump to any conclusions, but it looks like a switch might’ve finally been flipped thanks to the meeting earlier this week.
“The Colorado game was very disappointing,” Cassar said. “But the team has really come together since then. They had a meeting and talked about holding each other accountable and really working for each other. When we get back to that mentality, that’s when we’re at our best. It’s not about the name on the back of the jersey. It’s about the crest on the front and when we have everyone working for each other, we’re going to get good results.”
