America First Field, Sandy, UT – Real Salt Lake came out on top tonight with a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City and moves to the top of the table in the West. It took a while but the constant pressure from the home club finally prevailed with Chicho showing his goal scoring prowess to take all three points. With a sold out crowd on “May the Fourth be with You” night at America First Field the crowd was rocking all night long and ensured that the energy on the field was reflected by the excitement in the stands.
RSL had its share of chances in the first half but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net. Even with the struggles in the box the Claret and Cobalt kept the pressure on Kansas City and forced goalie John Pulskamp to make several saves. It was obvious throughout the match that these to clubs don’t care much for each other with the pitch scattered with bodies a number of times in both halves. It is surprising that there were only four yellow cards given when you consider the intensity of play.
The second half was an RSL show with the action coming fast and furious for the entire remainder of the match. The turning point was when Diego Luna was subbed in for Fidel Barajas with the quick feet of Luna causing more and more turmoil in front of the SKU goal. Things finally hit a crescendo when Braian Vera took a free kick in the 81st minute that found the head of Chicho Arrango to put RSL on top and provided the only goal of the match.
RSL enters the U.S. Open Cup next Wednesday in Albuquerque, NM against New Mexico United. Next up in MLS play for Real Salt Lake is a visit to Dignity Health Sports Park and the LA Galaxy next Saturday, May 11.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1
Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0
Scoring Summary
RSL – Chicho – 81′
Misconduct Summary
RSL – Emeka Eneli – 14′ – foul
RSL – Brayan Vera – 47′ – foul
RSL – Chicho – 90′ – foul
SKC – Memo Rodriguez – 90’+4′ – foul
Officials
Referee: Tim Ford
Assistant Referee: Chris Wattam
Assistant Referee: Ben Pilgrim
4th Official: Ricardo Fierro
Video Assistant Referee: Chris Penso
AVAR: Joshua Patlak
Lineups
Real Salt Lake: Zac MacMath; Andrew Brody; Brayan Vera; Justen Glad; Alexandros Katranis (Bode Hidalgo, 59′); Braian Ojeda; Chicho; Andres Gomez (Maikel Chang, 90’+1′); Emeka Eneli; Fidel Barajas (Diego Luna, 46′); Anderson Julio (Nelson Palacio, 69′)
Substitutes Not Used: Bode Hidalgo; Philip Quinton; Bertin Jacquesson; Tommy Silva; Gavin Beavers
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulksamp; Andreu Fontas; Robert Voloder; Tim Leibold; Jake Davis; Memo Rodriguez; Erik Thommy; Johnny Russell (Alenis Vargas, 61′); Alan Pulido (Willy Agada, 74′); Daniel Solloi (Khiry Shlelton, 88′); Marinos Tzionis (Felipe Hernandez, 46′)
Substitutes Not Used: Namanja Radoja; Robert Castellanos; Zorhan Bassong; Kayden Pierre; Ryan Schewe