Sounders FC shut out again

SANDY, Utah — Sounders FC's offensive woes continued on Saturday night in a 1-0 loss to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium, the team's third consecutive shutout loss.

According to coach Sigi Schmid, it was also the third consecutive time the Sounders fell asleep at the wheel.

"There was just not enough effort," said Schmid, whose squad fell 4-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes and FC Barcelona the previous two times out. "At the end of the day, the game should have ended 0-0. We fell asleep at the wrong positions and paid the price."

After a scoreless first half, Real's Robert Findley caught Seattle napping on a goal kick, taking Nick Rimando's long kick past midfield in stride and beating Seattle keeper Kasey Keller from just outside the penalty box.

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While the Sounders (7-5-8) outdid Real in the first half on the stat line, lobbing off four shots, they couldn't turn any of those opportunities into goals. Defender Tyrone Marshall did his part to avoid a deficit by out-positioning Findley and blocking what would have been an open shot on goal in the 16th minute.

Sounders FC's patient defense, backed by newcomer Leonardo Gonzalez, continued to capitalize on Real's inability to translate its chances into goals. But as the scoreless minutes piled up into the second half, tempers on both sides of the ball began to flare.

Following a rash of hard fouls and questionable calls, Sounders FC suffered a momentary defensive letdown.

Not that Schmid was ready to make excuses.

"You can fault a lot of things," he said. "But really, it just came down to a lack of effort."

"We just weren't in position. You just can't be offsides on a goal kick," said Keller. "We have too much experience on our team to do that."

Sounders FC's offensive effort continued to be missing, with the team's last goal coming in a 2-1 overtime win against Houston on July 21.

When asked how he felt about his team's waning production, Schmid didn't mince any words.

"Well, I'm not happy," he said. "It's one thing when the opponent beats you, but when you make mistakes like we did, then it's just a silly loss."

REAL SALT LAKE 1, SOUNDERS FC 0

Seattle	0 0 — 0
Real Salt Lake	0 1 — 1

First half — None. Second half — 1, Real Salt Lake, Findley 8 (Rimando), 62nd minute. Goalies — Seattle, Kasey Keller; Real Salt Lake, Nick Rimando. Total shots — Seattle 9, Real Salt Lake 9. Shots on goal — Seattle 1, Real Salt Lake 3. Total saves — Seattle 2, Real Salt Lake 1. Fouls — Seattle 9, Real Salt Lake 18. Offsides — Seattle 2, Real Salt Lake 4. Corner kicks — Seattle 11, Real Salt lake 5. Yellow cards — Mathis, Real Salt Lake, 11th; Beckerman, Real Salt Lake, 65th; Hurtado, Seattle, 76th. Referee — Kevin Stott. Assistant referees — Chris Strickland. Paul Scott. 4th official — Edvin Jurisevic. A — 14,193 (20,008).

LINEUPS

Seattle — Kasey Keller, Peter Vagenas, Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso (Nathan Sturgis, 81st), Nate Jaqua (Roger Levesque, 69th), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Leo Gonzalez (Sanna Nyassi, 81st).

Real Salt Lake — Nick Rimando, Kyle Beckerman, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert, Fabian Espindola (Pablo Campos, 90th), Jamison Olave, Javier Morales, Robbie Findley, Tony Beltran, Clint Mathis (Rachid El Khalifi, 67th), Will Johnson.