SANDY -- It was bound to end one day.
All it took was a massive storm of misfortune, both literally and figuratively.
Taking care of business with a man-advantage for the final half-hour, Seattle dropped Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Saturday night at rain-drenched Rio Tinto Stadium, snapping the Claret-and-Cobalt's massive 29-match run of form in league play at home.
It was Real Salt Lake's first home loss in Major League Soccer action since May 16, 2009, when it lost 2-0 to Kansas City.
"I was happy with the fight and spirit we showed," RSL boss Jason Kreis said. "I am very disappointed with the result."
RSL was forced to play the final half-hour of the match with 10 men after Jamison Olave was sent off for denying a goal-scoring opportunity on the edge of the 18-yard box. Real battled fiercely to keep the match tied at 0-0, but Seattle punched through with the go-ahead goal in the 71st minute when Patrick Ianni got on the end of a passing sequence out of the left corner that began with Nate Jaqua, going through Fredy Montero - who had just come into the match two minutes earlier.
Quickly switching to a "3-3-3" style formation to push for the equalizer, Real managed to create a handful of solid scoring opportunities, but was ultimately crushed by Lamar Neagle's 84th minute power shot from 23 yards out that crossed right to left and banked off the bottom of the crossbar into the goal.
"We just can't seem to get the ball to bounce right, right now," Real midfielder Ned Grabavoy said. "We're still trying to do the right things. We just need to keep working on that final pass in the final third."
Real desperately tried to rally over the waning moments, managing to pull one of the goals back in the 88th minute when second-half substitute Nelson Gonzalez finished a ball play to him by 86th minute substitute Luis Gil.
RSL, which dropped to 5-2-2 with its second loss of the season, is now winless in three consecutive matches, the longest run of negative form since a four-match winless streak during the first five matches of the 2010 season.
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