It came sandwiched between a pair of key MLS matches in early September with RSL still in the thick of the playoff race. And the match did not feature much of the starting 11 -- with the majority not even selected to suit up.
Still, Real saw a lot of value coming from its 1-0 victory over Tigres UANL of Mexico's FMF Primera Division on Wednesday night. It wasn't just about breaking a three-game winless streak against international opponents at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
It was more about generating positive momentum for both the offense and defense going into Saturday's match against the shorthanded Los Angeles Galaxy.
"It's always good to keep winning," forward Robbie Findley said. "You keep winning and the momentum keeps going forward. It builds a lot of confidence for the team."
RSL coach Jason Kreis admitted feeling inherent difficulties in taking time out at such a late juncture in the MLS regular season for a friendly. There is the question of whom to play and whom to rest. There is also the decision of how much effort you expend on a match that is essentially a tuneup for the real deal a few days later.
Kreis felt like what he saw from his players for 90 minutes made scheduling the exhibition worthwhile.
"I thought the spirit and the attitude of the entire group tonight was better than it has been in our past two international friendlies," Kreis said. "A few of the guys that hadn't looked so comfortable and so steady in the other international friendlies looked good tonight."
One player that looked comfortable was Yura Movsisyan. At times, Movsisyan has suffered from a reputation of being a player who can create plenty of shots but can't seem to put the ball in the net when his team could use an offensive boost.
There were plenty of moments when those finishing demons seemed tough to exorcise.
Movsisyan failed to connect on a one-on-one opportunity in the 13th minute. He sprinted into the penalty area and fired at the right post from the opposite side of the area. The shot ended up being nowhere close to being on frame and skidded wide right.
Another missed opportunity came in the 47th minute when Movsisyan took a penalty kick after Jesus Chavez committed a handball in the area. He put the resulting kick on target, but Alfredo Talavera guessed right on his dive and knocked the ball away.
But Movsisyan redeemed those near-misses by producing the game's only goal in the 18th minute. Alex Nimo swung a corner kick out Movsisyan at the far end of the penalty area. As Talavera came off his line, Movsisyan managed to pop the ball over him and into the back of the net.
Kreis could not say enough good things about his often maligned forward's play.
"He's making smart decisions and he's finishing stuff," Kreis said. "He finished well (last) weekend in the reserve game, and I thought tonight's finish was fantastic."
RSL felt best about what the team did on the defensive end. Tigres managed no shots on goal in the first half and ultimately came away with two total in 90 minutes of play. It was Real's first clean sheet against an international opponent since beating Everton FC 2-0 in July 2007.
"It was great that we got a shutout," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "It was all around good team defense. We got the goal we needed and then played solid with good possession and solid team defense."
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