Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis said midfielder Ned Grabavoy did an “admirable” job starting in place of suspended captain Kyle Beckerman in its1-0 loss to Monterrey — but Beckerman might have made a difference, particularly in the final minutes of the first half when Los Rayados broke through for the only goal in its win at Rio TintoStadium, reports Michael Lewis.
“Kyle’s an extremely important player, not only in how many defensive plays he makes for us, but how activehe is in our possession,” Kreis said. “And I felt like we were missing that little bit of energy, probably, when we had the ball. Again, just in those minutes. All in all, I thoughteverybody gave it their best. We had a good enough team out there to win, so I’m not using that as an excuse.”