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Sounders-Real Salt Lake Preview

Aug 7, 2009 - 4:39 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Seattle (7-4-8) at Real Salt Lake (6-8-5), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Coming off its first match on the road in more than six weeks, Seattle Sounders FC plays the second of three straight away from Qwest Field on Saturday night when it makes its first-ever visit to Rio Tinto Stadium to face Real Salt Lake.

After going 2-0-1 at home from June 28-July 25, Seattle (7-4-8) fell to 1-3-4 on the road with Sunday's 4-0 loss to San Jose.

In their first road match since a 1-all tie with New York on June 20, the expansion Sounders suffered their most lopsided loss while allowing a season high in goals.

"I think we have to digest what happened today and learn from it. Obviously from the first minute of the game we weren't ready to play," goalkeeper Kasey Keller told the Sounders' official Web site. "I know that this was a game where (Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop) said to them that it was a must-win for them.

"They showed up and competed from the first minute to the end of the game better than we did. I can't say that too often this season."

Seattle, which had its six-match unbeaten streak (3-0-3) snapped, was shut out for the second straight game as it played the majority of the match without defender James Riley, who received a red card in the 33rd minute. When Riley was sent off, Seattle trailed 1-0 following an own goal from midfielder Osvaldo Alonso.

"We basically took ourselves out with the red card," said Sounders coach Sigi Schmid, whose team plays at Los Angeles on Aug. 15 before returning home for two of three. "Not the best way to enter the second half."

Seattle is 0-3-4 on the road since defeating Toronto 2-0 on April 4 in the franchise's first-ever away game.

Real Salt Lake (6-8-5), meanwhile, is looking to stretch its unbeaten streak at home to five.

Since a 2-0 loss against visiting Kansas City on May 16, Salt Lake is 2-0-2 at Rio Tinto Stadium.

RSL, though, fell to 1-7-2 on the road with Saturday's 1-0 loss at Chicago where it had 16 shots, including five on goal.

"We went out and battled," Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando told the teams' official Web site. "We created chances, but we didn't score. We lost concentration for one second and they took the lead. We were down a goal and were struggling to catch up."

Real, looking for its first-ever victory over Seattle after falling to the Sounders 2-0 on March 28, will be without coach Jason Kreis, who is serving the final game of a two-game suspension stemming from a verbal confrontation with officials in a 4-2 win at FC Dallas on July 24.

Seattle midfielder Freddie Ljungberg is expected to return Saturday after serving a one-game suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.