Scoreless draw for Real Salt Lake, Sounders

SEATTLE: Real Salt Lake came away the happier of the two teams after a 0-0 draw at Seattle Sounders in Friday’s first leg of their MLS Western Conference semifinal.
RSL will host the second leg on Nov. 8.
In three regular-season matches and Friday’s clash, the teams have managed one goal between them.
Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves on point-blank shots by the Sounders late in the first half.
First, he deflected a header by Sammy Ochoa onto the top of his net in the 33rd minute. Then from the ensuing corner, he stopped a 6-yard shot from straight in front by Seattle’s Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.
Rimando played the last 19 minutes of the game with a bandage alongside his right eye after a collision in the box with Seattle’s Christian Tiffert. Rimando was on the ground for nearly five minutes before play resumed.
Sounders goalie Michael Gspurning also had two nice stops. In the 24th minute, Gspurning came all the way out to the top of his penalty area and slid to knock the ball away from the boot of Real Salt Lake’s Nick Gravaboy. In the 85th minute, Gspurning jumped to his right to save a diving header by RSL’s Paulo Junior.
Seattle forward Eddie Johnson, who had a team-record 14 goals during the regular season, did not play because of a left abductor strain that he suffered during last Sunday’s regular-season finale at Los Angeles.
Fabian Espindola, Real Salt Lake’s second-leading scorer with seven goals, was substituted at halftime with a hamstring injury.