Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke dubbed the first 45 minutes of Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo, “our best first-half performance of the year.”
It was a first half with a brand-new lineup in the center of the field.
Damir Kreilach, normally a box-to-box midfielder, slid up to attacking mid with Albert Rusnák away on international duty. With RSL scheduled to play five matches (including one Open Cup game) in 15 days, defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman was out of the starting XI for a planned rest. That left the No. 6 and No. 8 spots open.