RSL manages 2-1 win over Revs in goalkeeping heroics-laden match

Last night was, in no small way, a macrocosm of the season so far. A win, a little bit of controversy, a red card — then another — a battle, some nerves (OK, a lot of nerves) and, in the end, a win.

When our hard-tackling midfielder Will Johnson was sent off, I feared the worst: We were ahead 2-1, but with 30 minutes left to play, anything could have happened. Minutes after the sending off, Jason Kreis made his first and only adjustment of the night, brining Jonny Steele on for Fabian Espindola. The added depth to the midfield was important: We went from a half-diamond 4-3-2 to a strangely shaped 4-4-1, with Javier Morales continuing to take up wide attacking positions.

Some matches take on the look of a stream of consciousness, but last night was one more punctuated by individual events. Let's take a look at those, shall we?

We Concede: After so nearly going through for our first goal, the clearance ends up at the feet of Shalrie Joseph, who breaks with utter impunity. Blake Brettschneider receives a pass in, forces Olave into a mistake, forces Tony Beltran into a mistake, and fires a shot to the far post. It was a wonderful shot — and while I can only call it wonderful because we ended up winning, it was certainly frustrating at the time.

Saborio scores his first: It was the prettiest build-up for an ugly goal: Everyone gets involved. With play stretched down the right flank, Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman both make brilliant passes — the former into Fabian Espindola to stretch play like he does best, the latter perhaps a bit hopeful into the box. A few rebounds later, and Saborio slams the ball into the back of the net. Brian Dunseth, in the commentary, harped on the fact that the ball came off the arm of Alvaro Saborio, but there was nothing wrong on the play for me. The ball comes off the upper part of his arm, sure, but he's in the air and the ball is headed into him from close. It's never a handball for me.

Saborio scores his second: Javier Morales takes a free kick maybe 35 yards out, and as simple as you like, Alvaro Saborio reads the play perfectly and is there to fire home with his head. It was a sumptuous pass to knock it past the defenders and an efficient header to grab our second goal.

The Red: Here's where things get tricky. Will Johnson loses the ball, then, in an attempt to win it back, flies in with one boot a bit high and his studs showing. It certainly could have gone either way, to be sure. There was a bit of added controversy when the referee, who looked like he was going with a yellow for the tackle, consulted his linesmen and changed his decision to a straight red. Now, I know it's frustrating, but week-in, week-out, we clamor for referees to consult their linesmen on plays like these — and if they do, it'll sometimes go against us.

Super Nick: How much can one say about Nick Rimando that hasn't already been said? After the red card to Will Johnson, he made four saves and a punch, truly keeping us in the match. Over the course of the match, he had six saves, two catches, and a punch. Each save was more spectacular than the last, with Nick diving all over the place to make brilliant save after brilliant save. He was, without a doubt, the difference between a win and a draw — or a loss — last night.

Another Red: Late on — the 81st minute or so — New Englander Fernando Cardenas was shown a red for what seemed to be a fairly innocuous challenge that quite nearly had disastrous results. On replay, you can see Cardenas nearly planting his studs into Olave's leg then landing across his leg. I'm not sure as to exactly what the rationale behind the red was, but it nearly was a very damaging situation — so I will assume it was that.

Release: It was quite nearly a heartbreaking match, and it was also quite nearly a blowout. We took a solid seven shots on target, four off target, and had two shots blocked; we had plenty of opportunities on the break, too, but Matt Reis was as solid as you'd expect. Thankfully, his heroics were second to Nick Rimando's heroics, and perhaps for that reason, we ended the match with a win. Open, attacking matches like this one wreak havoc on the nerves, but there's little like the release of tension that comes with that final whistle and three points.