SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis wasn't smiling after his team rallied to beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-2 Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, but he had every right to be.
"I'm very, very, very proud of the group," Kreis said after the win. "It's been a long time coming. I think we've played a lot of good soccer for a lot of games in a row, even our road games where we haven't gotten results."
Javier Morales' 25-yard free kick in the 59th minute capped Real Salt Lake's comeback, as they turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory. The win was just their second away from home all season, and keeps them tied for third place (and the last guaranteed playoff spot) in the Western Conference with 34 points.
Real were facing the hottest team in the league, as San Jose came into the match unbeaten in their last nine games. But RSL prevailed in a hard-fought contest that features two goals from Yura Movsisyan and San Jose's Darren Huckerby.
"Tonight, it wasn't the best soccer game," Kreis said. "It wasn't meant to be. It was always going to be a battle, and I'm glad to see that our guys know how to battle as well.
Real hadn't won on the road since June 14, a result that followed five consecutive losses on the road to begin the season. Kreis knew his team would have to change that record in one of its three remaining contests outside of Utah to reach the playoffs for the first time.
"We challenged the players this week," Kreis said. "I kind of took the gloves off a little bit and said it's time for you guys to step up. For me, big games call for big players to make big plays. Our big players showed up today and made big plays."
Part of that included a couple of changes to the RSL lineup.
"There were two changes to the starting lineup tonight," Kreis said. "It was Clint (Mathis) as a second forward, and then Robbie Russell in the midfield. (Russell) was a player that, before tonight, we had only looked at in the back, as a wide defender. We knew he was capable playing in the midfield, and I think tonight he had a fantastic game and put a monster effort in himself."
The big plays then began in the third minute, when Yura Movsisyan took a long chip from Morales that sent him into the box 1-on-1 with defender Nick Garcia. From the right side, Movsisyan cut inside Garcia and drilled home a left footed shot from 12 yards out for a 1-0 Real Salt Lake lead.
Darren Huckerby then put San Jose ahead 2-1, scoring goals in each half. But just a minute after Huckerby's second goal, Movsisyan ran down Kyle Beckerman's chip, fended off a challenge from Ronnie O'Brien, and flicked the bouncing ball over an on-rushing Joe Cannon to tie the game at 2-2.
"I honestly feel that Yura is a player that a lot of people that have been watching him for a while don't quite understand what he's made of, and what he's capable of," Kreis said. "The coaching staff that sees him day in and day out has a full understanding of what he's capable of, and he showed it tonight."
Movsisyan's second goal set the stage for the Morales game-winner. In the 59th minute, Morales hooked a free kick over the wall into the upper left corner of the goal to put RSL ahead for good.
"We knew coming in it would be a battle and we needed come here and fight," Movsisyan said. "We showed a lot of character today and obviously, we put our chances away."
Kreis called Morales' free kick "awesome, unbelievable. It's something that's also been a long time coming because last year he scored a great one, and we know he's very capable of it and he hadn't had one yet this year," he said. "Hopefully, that's a sign of things to come in our last four games."
Morales also was credited with an assist on Movsisyan's opener, giving him 11 for the season, now second in MLS behind the Columbus Crew's Guillermo Barros Schelotto.
"Javier Morales has been fantastic," Kreis said. "There's certainly been some games where I would have thought he could have done a little bit more, and so he was one of the players I was hoping would accept that challenge and he showed tonight that he did, because I thought he was absolutely fantastic. He created that first goal, an unbelievable pass, and then played through what was, I'm sure, a painful injury because he knows how important to our team he is. So for me, my hat's off to him. Fantastic."
With four games left in the regular season, Real Salt Lake are in contention to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in team history. Kreis thinks his team can make it.
"If we can put that kind of effort forth (like we did tonight), if we can put that kind of competitive spirit forth over the next four games, we're going to be just fine," he said.
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