March 14, 2009 Real Salt Lake vs Toronto FC (from Toronto FC Media Relations)
03/14/2009 7:54PM
Reds fall to Real Salt Lake
De Rosario scores in 2-1 defeat
Toronto FC Media Relations
Toronto FC were beaten 2-1 by Real Salt Lake in the deciding match of the Carolina Challenge Cup at Blackbaud Stadium in South Carolina on Saturday. Dwayne De Rosario pulled TFC back into the game with a goal shortly before half time after RSL had taken a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes. The Reds fell behind in just the 6th minute when Javier Morales ball over the top of the TFC defenders found Yura Movsisyan in alone on Stefan Frei. He shot just inside right post to open the scoring.
Toronto's first chance came in the 12 minute with Pablo Vitti feeding Chad Barrett, but the striker's shot was easily saved by Nick Rimando in the Salt Lake goal.
RSL dominated the early stages, and doubled the lead in the 20th minute. Robbie Findley raced past Marvell Wynne and cut the ball back to Clint Mathis who scored from 10 yards out to put RSL up 2-0.
Toronto's hopes of getting back into the game were dealt a big blow two minutes later when Kevin Harmse was sent off after recieving a second yellow card. Shortly after the sending off, Adrian Serioux was forced to leave the match with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Marco Velez, leaving TFC without both of their starting central defenders.
Stefan Frei tipped over a Kyle Beckerman shot to deny RSL a third goal but as the half went on, TFC started to come into the game. In the 38th minute Dwayne De Rosario pulled the Reds back into the match with his third goal of the tournament. RSL defender Jamison Olave fouled Barrett 25 yards out. Amado Guevara's free kick was headed off the line by Chris Wingert but as the ball was played back into the box, De Rosario pounced to score from close range.
Chances were at a premium after the break. Clint Mathis was denied by Stefan Frei with a header from 12 yards and Kyle Beckerman fired a shot just over the bar.
Chad Barrett headed wide from a De Rosario cross in the 69th minute for Toronto, and with time running out, the Reds thought they had tied the game. In the 85th minute, Amado Guevara's free kick was disallowed for offside with the officials ruling that Fuad Ibrahim had interfered with play.
Toronto finished the tournament with two wins and a defeat, a big improvement on 12 months ago. The Reds now return home to prepare for the MLS season opener at Kansas City next Saturday, March 21st (8:30 p.m. live on Gol TV).
TFC line-up: Frei, Wynne, Harmse (sent off 22), Serioux (Velez 26), Brennan, De Rosario (Sanyang 89), Robinson, Guevara, Ricketts (Cronin 54), Barrett (Ibrahim 82), Vitti (Dichio 71) RSL line-up: Rimando, Beltran (Cox 82), Olave, Horst, Wingert, Mathis (Grabavoy 65), Beckerman, Morales (Williams 70), Johnston, Movsisyan, Findley Scoring summary: 6' TFC 0 RSL 1 - Movsisyan 20' TFC 0 RSL 2 - Mathis 38' TFC 1 RSL 2 - De Rosario
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