Club: | Real Salt Lake |
Season: | 2010 |
Stadium: | Rio Tinto Stadium |
League: | Major League Soccer |
League Result: | 2nd |
Chrtitle: | Owner |
Chairman: | SCP Worldwide |
Mgrtitle: | Coach |
Manager: | Jason Kreis |
League Topscorer: | Álvaro Saborío |
Season Topscorer: | Álvaro Saborío (18) |
Highest Attendance: | 20,463 vs Cruz Azul (October 19) |
Lowest Attendance: | 11,579 vs Toronto (September 15) |
Average Attendance: | 18,764 |
Largest Win: | RSL 5-0 NE (7/2) |
Largest Loss: | DAL 3-1 RSL (7/17) |
Cup1: | MLS Cup |
Cup1 Result: | Conf. Semifinals |
Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
Cup2 Result: | Did not qualify |
Cup3: | CONCACAF Champions League |
Cup3 Result: | Finals |
Cup4: | Carolina Challenge Cup |
Cup4 Result: | Runners-up |
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Prevseason: | 2009 |
Nextseason: | 2011 |
The 2010 Real Salt Lake season was the sixth year of the club's existence. It was also the sixth year for the club in Major League Soccer and the sixth-consecutive year for the club in the top-flight of American soccer.
Real Salt Lake entered the 2010 MLS season as the defending MLS Cup champions, and participated additionally in the CONCACAF Champions League and played play-in propers of the U.S. Open Cup. During 2010, the club had the most success ever in its history, finishing second place in Major League Soccer, as well as becoming the first American-based club to win a Champions League group; in which they won Group A with a 4–1–1 record. Salt Lake played two play in propers of the Open Cup before eventually falling out against D.C. United.
In the MLS Cup playoffs, Salt Lake was paired against FC Dallas, the eventual Cup runners-up, where the Royals fell 3–2 on aggregate in the quarterfinals.
Real Salt Lake opened the season with a 3–0 road victory against San Jose.
MLS: 1-0-0, 3 points, 3 goals for, 0 goals against
RSL began April with a 2–1 loss to Houston, losing after the Dynamo earned two penalty kicks just a minute apart. Upon heading back to Sandy, they played to a 2–2 draw against Seattle, with Álvaro Saborío scoring the equalizer in second half stoppage time, in front of a full stadium with a crowd over 20,000. A week later, they headed to Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy, the team they had defeated on penalty kicks to win MLS Cup 2009. Despite losing 2–1, Real became the first team to score on the Galaxy in the 2010 Season, as Los Angeles had shut out their first three opponents. RSL finished April with a 1–0 loss to the reigning Supporters' Shield winners, the Columbus Crew.
MLS: 0-3-1, 1 point, 4 goals for, 7 goals against
RSL began with a hard-fought 2–1 home victory over Toronto. They then hosted for the first time the new expansion team, Philadelphia, winning 3–0. The next week, they defeated Houston, who had beaten them at home in Houston in April, with a decisive 3–1 win. Going on the road to Los Angeles to face expansion partners Chivas USA, RSL found victory when Fabián Espíndola scored in the 89th minute for the game-winner in the 2–1 win. RSL finished the month with a close 4–1 win over Kansas City in Sandy. Both the five-game win streak and the 15-game home unbeaten streak held by RSL at the end of May are franchise-highs.
MLS: 5-0-0, 15 points, 14 goals for, 4 goals against
After a disappointing scoreless draw on the road against D.C. United, RSL returned home to hand Los Angeles their first loss of the season by a score of 1–0 on a controversial Javier Morales goal. After a two-week hiatus due to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, RSL drew San Jose 0-0.
MLS: 1-0-2, 5 points, 1 goal for, 0 goals against
July saw Robbie Findley return from World Cup play for Nick Rimando's 100th MLS win – a 5–0 drubbing of New England. They took their aggressive playing style on the road, beating the Chicago Fire 1–0. Their 10-game unbeaten streak came to an end against FC Dallas at Dallas, followed by a disappointing home draw against Chivas USA. They were back in form against D.C. United, and came away with a 3–0 win.
MLS: 3-1-1, 10 points, 10 goals for, 3 goals against
RSL's good fortunes continued in August, as the team went undefeated in league play. The month opened with four games in twelve days – three league games and RSL's first CONCACAF Champions League game. After playing to a 1–1 draw with Kansas City at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, RSL paid its first visit to Philadelphia's new PPL Park, earning a point in a 1–1 draw with the Union. RSL headed back to Rio Tinto Stadium to face its 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals nemesis Columbus. RSL won the game 2–0 on a Morales brace. The team then geared up to begin Group A play in the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League. RSL defeated Panamanian champions Árabe Unido in Sandy by a score of 2–1 in a wild match that featured over eight minutes of second-half stoppage time. A week later, the team traveled to Estadio Azul to play Mexico's Cruz Azul. Though RSL led 3–2 after 87 minutes, a crazy finish left Real empty-handed, falling 5–4. The team finished the month with an MLS scoreless affair at BMO Field in Toronto, leaving the team in third place on the table at 40 points with eight league games remaining.
MLS: 1-0-3, 6 points, 4 goals for, 2 goals against; CCL: 1-1-0, 3 points, 6 goals for, 6 goals against
September was another spectacular run for RSL, culminating in qualifying for the MLS Playoffs and the CONCACAF Champion's League quarterfinals.
(captain)
See also: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2010.
Date | Player | Previous Club | Fee | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
February 10, 2010 | Unattached | Free | [1] | ||
February 23, 2010 | Trade | [2] | |||
March 14, 2010 | Free | [3] | |||
March 18, 2010 | Free | [4] | |||
September 9, 2010 | Loan | [5] |
Date | Player | Destination Club | Fee | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
July 6, 2009 | Free | [6] | |||
November 26, 2009 | Trade | ||||
January 14, 2010 | Trade | [7] | |||
February 12, 2010 | Retired | Retired |
Date | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2, 2010 | Loan | [8] [9] | |||
April 2, 2010 | Loan | ||||
August 1, 2010 | Loan |
Last updated on 17 November 2010.[10] |}
Starting XI vs. Colorado on Oct. 23:
Games played | 40 (30 MLS, 6 CONCACAF Champions League, 2 MLS Playoffs, 2 U.S. Open Cup) | |||
Games won | 20 (15 MLS, 4 CONCACAF Champions League, 1 U.S. Open Cup) | |||
Games drawn | 13 (11 MLS, 1 CONCACAF Champions League, 1 MLS Playoffs) | - | Games lost | 7 (4 MLS, 1 CONCACAF Champions League, 1 MLS Playoffs, 1 U.S. Open Cup) |
Goals scored | 66 | |||
Goals conceded | 36 | |||
Goal difference | +30 | |||
Clean sheets | 15 | |||
Yellow cards | 64 | |||
Red cards | 1 | |||
Worst discipline | Jámison Olave 10 0 | |||
Best result(s) | W 5–0 (H) v New England – Major League Soccer – 2 July 2010 | |||
Worst result(s) | L 2–0 (A) v Dallas – Major League Soccer – 17 July 2010 | |||
Most appearances | Nat Borchers (37) | |||
Top scorer | Álvaro Saborío (18) | |||
Points | Overall: 56/90 (62.22%) | |||