They All Count

Photo courtesy of Alan Hainkel/CLP

Yes, it was an own goal, yes one of our players still haven't scored since Claudio Lopez against LA, but all that will matter in the end is that the scoreline says 1-0 with KC being on top. In a game that KC had the better of possession and the more dangerous of play, they could only manage 1 goal.

Winning the toss, KC made Salt Lake go into the sun in the first half, which helped to negate much of Salt Lake's offense in the first half. The hope had to have been to get the ball high and make Nick Rimando look into the sun. KC couldn't create a clean chance though. In fact, the best chance of the half was when Kenny Deuchar got in behind Jimmy Conrad and Aaron Hohlbein. Deuchar's shot was fairly tame, though and taken care of by Kevin Hartman.

In the second half, KC continued to have the better of play, but their shooting had not improved as most of their chances went high or wide. One of the best didn't even count as a shot, as Davy Arnaud put a cross into Claudio Lopez at the back post. Lopez headed the ball back across the face of goal, but was just a little to high for Jack Jewsbury who had made a late crashing run into the box. The introduction of Carlos Marinelli also helped to give more play to KC, as he played like someone who was looking to get his starting spot back. He was actually fairly quick on the ball and playing very smart. Another sub, Chance Myers, also missed a glorious chance, as a cross came to him all alone at the back post, he was able to trap it down, but he skied his shot well over the goal.

Finally, in the 89th minute, just when it looked like KC would have their second straight 0-0 draw, and their 4th straight game without scoring, Davy Arnaud swung a free kick into the box. Conrad challenged for it with Tony Beltran, who got his head on it, but headed it into his own net to give the Wizards a deserved 1-0 lead. The entire second half, you could tell that if KC could get their shots on net that a goal was going to come, and it finally did. In fact after the goal, KC almost made it two, when Scott Sealy rounded Rimando but his shot was blocked off the line for an RSL defender.

Wizards Man of the Match - Jimmy Conrad - Yet another great battle with Kenny Deuchar, Captain Kansas City solidified the defense and helped to give KC their 3rd shutout in 4 games. Not a bad run for the defense, now if the offense would just start to pick it up, the team could begin to look dangerous.

Honorable Mention - Aaron Hohlbein, Jack Jewsbury