RSL no longer undefeated, falling 5-2 to LA Galaxy

Juan Manuel Martinez

Juan Manuel Martinez (Photo – Schylar Frampton)

StubHub Center, Carson, CA  – Real Salt Lake put their undefeated season on the line at the Stubhub Center Saturday night against the hosting LA Galaxy.  RSL was still not back at full strength with Sunny and Morales on the bench and not joining in as one of the starting eleven.

The fast pace of the match started early, and continue throughout the match.  The pace seemed to be to the advantage of the Galaxy however that didn’t stop Juan Manuel Martinez from striking first in the 16th minute of play when Burrito got one past Brian Rowe to put RSL up 1-0.

 

Mike Magee scores on Nick RImando

Mike Magee scores on Nick Rimando (Photo: Rob Gray)

The lead was short lived for RSL as Gyasi Zardes leveled the match at 1-1 in the 19th minute when he shot one past Nick and into the right side of the net.  The Galaxy didn’t stop there, nor did the shot placement by LA and they followed up with a goal by Mike Magee in the 26th minute, Emmanuel Boateng in the 41st and Giovani dos Santos in the 45th minute, putting the Galaxy up 4-1 at the half.

Juan Manuel Martinez

Juan Manuel Martinez (Photo: Rob Gray)

Even with the halftime scoreline, the worst moment of the first half may have been when Juan Manuel Martinez left the match in the 23rd minute with a thigh injury.  Coach Cassar hoped that he was taken out before he could cause any real damage and hopes he will be available before they embark on their extended road trip.

Jeff Cassar made one change at the half when he substituted Javier Morales for John Stertzer and got the result was very noticeable in almost every statistic particularly the number of shots taken, RSL took 4 shots in the first half and 17 after Morales hit the pitch.

Javier Morales

Javier Morales (Photo Rob Gray)

RSL was able to gain some momentum when Javier Morales scored on a Penalty Kick in the 70th minute after a stutter-step and a shot passed Brian Rowe, but even with all of the shots from the Claret and Cobalt the gap couldn’t be closed any further.

Steven Gerrard finished off the Galaxy scoring in the first minute of stoppage time to get to the final score of LA Galaxy 5, Real Salt Lake 1.

Nick Rimando and Jamison Olave

Nick Rimando and Jamison Olave (Photo: Rob Gray)

Coach Jeff Cassar took much of the blame for the loss saying he had not properly prepared the team.  When asked about the what he had seen from Jamison Olave to start him over Justen Glad taking into account that in 4 starts and one substitution 11 goals have been scored with Jamison Olave and Justen Glad with 3 starts has only been in for 1 goal,  Jeff said that there was nothing he had seen other than Olave had been working hard and he wanted to build a rotation in the defenders.

Kyle Beckerman

Kyle Beckerman (Photo: Rob Gray)

Some great milestones for the RSL family tonight with Kyle Beckerman’s turning 34 today, ad Nick Rimando playing in his 400th MLS match.  It was very fitting that Nick stopped another PK attempt tonight.

Goals by Period         1  2  F
Real Salt Lake             1  1  2
LA Galaxy                    4  1  5

Scoring Summary:
RSL – Juan Manuel Martinez – 16′
LA  – Gyasi Zardes  – 19′
LA – Mike Magee – 26′
LA – Emmanuel Boateng – 41′
LA – Giovani dos Santos – 45′
RSL – Javier Morales – 70′
LA – Steven Gerrard – 90′ _ 1′

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Kyle Beckerman – 13′
LA  – Gyasi Zardes – 38′
RSL – Tony Beltran – 57′
RSL– Jamison Olave – 60′
LA – Jelle Van Damme – 67′

Lineups:

Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake (Photo: Rob Gray)

Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Aaron Maund; Chris Wingert; Jamison Olave; Tony Betran; Luke Mulholland; John Stertzer (Javier Morales, HT); Kyle Beckerman; Jordan Allen (Olmes Garcia, 78′); Juan Manuel Martinez (Demar Phillips, 23′); Yura Movsisyan

Substitutes Not Used: Jeff Attinella; Justen Glad; Sunny; Devon Sandoval

LA Galaxy: Brian Rowe; Ashley Cole’ Daniel Steres; Jelle Van Damme; A.J. DeLaGarza (Robbie Rogers, 81′); Baggio Husidic; Giovani dos Santos; Steven Gerrard; Emmanuel Boateng; Mike Magee (Bradford Jamieson, 90’+2′); Gyasi Zardes

Substitutes Not Used: Ariel Lassiter; Jeff Larentowicz; Rafael Garcia; Dan Kennedy; Bradfor Jamieson; Dave Romney

Next up for RSL

Real Salt Lake hosts the Houston Dynamo at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday April 30th.

 

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