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SLIDESHOW: Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew soccer
SANDY -- Real Salt Lake opened the playoffs on the right foot, defeating the Columbus Crew 1-0 Saturday at a brisk Rio Tinto Stadium.
Robbie Findley was the hero for RSL, scoring the winning goal while sliding toward the goal in the 88th minute.
"It was a great near-post ball from Yura (Movsisyan)," Findley said, "and I was able to just get a piece of it."
Movsisyan made the perfect pass from just inside the sideline after a throw-in by Will Johnson. Findley had little room to work with, but managed to beat the defender, pull off a baseball-like slide and just get enough of the ball with his foot to slide it under the goalkeeper.
Saturday's game was the first leg of the teams' two-game series to open the 2009 MLS playoffs. The teams will now head to Columbus for the second game on Thursday. The team that wins in aggregate scoring advances to the next round.
The RSL win gives the team some huge momentum going forward, knowing that even with a tie they would advance.
"It's big," said RSL coach Jason Kreis. "It puts our foot out there. It gives us a little bit of a cushion. Although, I don't think I'm going to approach that much thinking about the cushion, to be honest."
Real controlled the game early. Nat Borchers just missed an opportunity to the left of the goal in the fifth minute. Javier Morales and Andy Williams also had quality chances in the 19th and 23rd minutes.
RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando had two big saves in the first half, including a key save just before the half off of a Steven Lenhart header in close.
The crowd thought for a second that Real opened the scoring in the 83rd minute when Findley broke loose and fired a shot from a tough angle, hitting the side of the net. The movement of mesh set a collective gasp throughout the crowd of 11,499.
Both teams played a bit sluggish in the second half. RSL started to take control after Movsisyan came into the game on a substitution in the 65th minute. He created a number of chances before threading the needle on Findely's marker.
"These fans, this team, this club have given me a lot," said Movsisyan who may have played his final game at Rio Tinto Stadium. "This has given me my break and everything I have right now and really, really great memories."
Movsisyan said setting up Findley's goal will be one of his all-time greatest memories of playing in Salt Lake. He will play for Raiders FC next season in Denmark and because of the MLS playoff format, even if RSL advances further in the playoffs, they won't be granted another home game due to being the lowest seed in the conference.
RSL continues to build momentum after making the playoffs in an improbable fashion. Columbus, on the other hand, continues to search for answers. The Crew has now lost three in a row, two home games in a row and has only scored one goal in the last five games.
The winner of the RSL-Columbus series will take on the winner of the New England-Chicago series.
