RSL displays exciting soccer

If ever there was a soccer game that non-soccer fans should have witnessed to see how exciting the “Beautiful Game” can be, this was it.

Real Salt Lake scored four goals in the second half after trailing by two goals at halftime to beat FC Dallas 4-2 on Friday night.

After a pretty ugly first half for RSL, things quickly changed in the second half when Yura Movsisyan, who entered the game at halftime, scored in the 55^th minute.

Then Robbie Findley earned a penalty kick and scored in the 62^nd minute to tie the score at 2.

Then former RSL forward Jeff Cunningham had a chance to not only give FC Dallas the lead in the 71^st minute with a penalty kick, but pass RSL head coach Jason Kreis on the MLS all-time goal-scoring list. Cunningham scored in the 13^th minute to give FC Dallas a 1-0 lead and tie Kreis with 108 career goals, which is good enough for third on the list.

However RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando saved the penalty kick, and kept the game even and Cunningham tied with Kreis, who nearly leaped out of his shoes celebrating the save on the sideline.

“That was in the back of my mind,” Rimando said. “He scored one but I couldn’t let him get two tonight.”

Then Kreis was throw out of the game two minutes later after continuing to have heated words at the fourth official over the controversial handball on RSL defender Chris Wingert that resulted in the penalty kick.

Kreis missed the exciting finish.

“Somebody told me we won,” joked Kreis during his postgame press conference. “Is that true?”

Yep, that’s true.

RSL forward Fabian Espindola’s cross in the 88^th minute bounced off the back of FC Dallas defender Daniel Torres, who also spent time with RSL, into the goal. That gave RSL a 3-2 lead.

Movsisyan sealed the win with his second goal of the game in stoppage time.

To celebrate Pioneer Day, there were fireworks after the game. Not that the crowd of 18,822 needed any more excitement.