This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sandy • Javier Morales stood on the west side of Rio Tinto Stadium before kickoff Saturday night flanked by Kyle Beckerman, Nick Rimando, Tony Beltran and Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen.
That's where he was presented with two frames: One contained a No. 11 Morales jersey, the other a collage featuring a decade of his own brilliance in Utah.
His old teammates hugged him. Hansen wouldn't let him go for a while. Morales eventually held high the framed jersey over his head, faced every section of Rio Tinto Stadium and simply smiled.
There wasn't much more that he could do. In a night brimming with the emotion of a star now part of the past, RSL's present again proved to be in a lengthy uphill climb.
Morales' new squad, FC Dallas, waltzed into Sandy and showed why it's considered the top team in Major League Soccer. With the former RSL playmaker on the bench, Dallas managed an early goal three minutes in and never looked fazed in its 3-0 win Saturday.
FC Dallas (5-0-3) remained the last unbeaten team in MLS, while RSL (2-6-2) lost its third home match of the five at Rio Tinto Stadium this season.
The loss was also the fifth time RSL has been shut out in its first 10 games.
"I'm very frustrated right now. I'm very angry right now. I'm very disgusted right now," RSL coach Mike Petke said. "And I'm trying to figure out a way, without being cliché, to take it on myself. Because at the end of the day, I'm the coach. It has to fall on me."
FC Dallas made sure the Rio Tinto Stadium faithful wouldn't have much time to rev its engine. A ball played toward the center of the RSL box by Dallas forward Tesho Akindele made contact with the left arm of Demar Phillips as the RSL defender fell to the ground. Referee Drew Fischer pointed to the spot.
Maxi Urruti calmly finished the penalty, sending Matt VanOekel the wrong way to put FC Dallas up 1-0 in the third minute.
"It was a soft call," RSL forward Sebastian Saucedo said. "I think the ref should have let that go."
VanOekel stopped Urruti from 6 yards out 10 minutes later. Dallas had a second crack at it once the ball was played back into the box, but rookie Justin Schmidt cleared a would-be goal off the line in the 13th minute.
Schmidt was beat, however, by Dallas center back Matt Hedges in the 67th minute. Hedges rose high over Schmidt on a Dallas corner and buried a header into the far post to take a 2-0 lead. Urruti dribbled around VanOekel in the first minute of stoppage time and flicked a shot in to up the lead to 3-0.
Once the 83rd minute rolled around, frustrated fans faintly started chanting "We want Javi," but Dallas had no subs remaining.
Instead, the reunion between the one-time staple and this fan base resulted in Morales saluting them postgame, his new team with three more points in the bag. As for his old crew, RSL was left searching for more answers after a third straight loss.
"We know that we've gotta raise the level," defender Chris Wingert said, "and that we're not playing good enough to be winning games."
Twitter: @chriskamrani —
Storylines
R Javier Morales returns to Rio Tinto, but doesn't play in FC Dallas' 3-0 win.
• Maxi Urruti scores two goals in the victory.
• RSL has been outscored 9-1 in its three-game losing streak.