Baldero Toledo makes his presence known
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT – Real Salt Lake was the second team to fall to newcomer LAFC when they were defeated in what became a lopsided match, 5-1 at Rio Tinto Stadium today. What started out as a beautiful afternoon with RSL firing on all cylinders, turned ugly after the 29th minute when LAFC took control and dominated the rest of the match.
This is the first time these clubs have met, and only the second match for the newest club in MLS. With LAFC fresh off of their first win at Seattle and RSL taking one point in Dallas last weekend it looked to be a spirited affair from the beginning.
Joao Plata puts the PK rebound past Miller
RSL started the match and looked dominant and in control. With the first points scored off of a PK taken by Joao Plata in the the 20th minute it looked to be a one sided affair. All of that changed in the 29th minute when Kyle Beckerman was issued a yellow card for a hard foul, the entire rhythm of the Claret and Cobalt seemed to be off after that. In the 30th minute Diego Rossi leveled it up on a goal, quickly followed by Latif Blessing putting LAFC on top in the 33rd minute. The second half picked up right where we left off, with RSL looking a little flat footed and LAFC with a little hop in their step. It only took 2 more minutes for one of our least favorite players here at the RioT, Benny Feilhaber to add another goal extending the lead. Real Salt Lake continued for fight, but just couldn’t get things to go their way, then Deigo Rossi completed his brace in the 81st minute and Carlos Vela put things cleaning out of had in the 86th minute to end the scoring, LAFC 5 RSL 1.
Laurent Ciman vs Jefferson Savarino
This is the second win this season for LAFC putting them clearly on top of the west having won their first two matches, more impressively they won at Seattle and at Rio Tinto, not an easy feat. In spite of a RSL putting early pressure on they were able to really get things rolling 30 minutes into the match and never slowed down. If they can keep healthy they may be the club to watch in the west this season.
The new additions to Real Salt Lake, Shawn Barry and Damir Kreilach both had a good showing, with Barry having a dominating performance on defense. Alfredo Ortuno made his first appearance in the Claret and Cobalt when her replaced Luis Silva in the 67th minute, but it wasn’t enough to get the home team back on track.
Shawn Barry with impressive play today.
With RSL now sitting with 1 loss and 1 tie to start the season, we will have to see what Mike Petke does to get the team heading the in the right direction when he meets up with the New York Red Bulls next week at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 0 1
Los Angeles FC 2 3 5
Scoring Summary:
RSL – Joao Plata – 20′
LAFC – Diego Rossi – 30′
LAFC – Latif Blessing – 33′
LAFC – Benny Feilhaber – 47′
LAFC – Deigo Rossi – 81′
LAFC – Carlos Vela – 86′
Mike Petke and Bob Bradley
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Kyle Beckerman – 29′ – unsporting behavior
Officials
Referee: Baldomero Toled0
Assistant Referee: Adam Garner
Assistant Referee: Apolinar Mariscal
4th Official: Drew Fischer
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Guzman Jr.
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake Starting XI
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Demar Phillips; Justen Glad; Shawn Barry (Brooks Lennon, 57′); David Horst (Sebastian Saucedo, 77′); Albert Rusnak; Damir Kreilach; Joao Plata; Jefferson Savarino; Kyle Beckerman; Luis Silva (Alfredo Ortuno, 67′)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Horwath; Sunny; Luke Mulholland; Danil0 Acosta
Los Angeles FC: Tyler Miller; Joao Moutinho (Jordan Harvey, 83′); Larent Ciman; Dejan Jakovic; Steven Beitashour; Benny Feilhaber; Carlos Vela; Diego Rossi; Latif Blessing (Tristan Backmon, 84′); Mark-Anthony Kaye; Marco Urena
Substitutes Not Used: James Murphy; Rodrigo Pacheco; Charlie Lyon; Aaron Kovar; Calum Mallace
Next up for RSL
Real Salt Lake stays at home to welcome the New York Red Bulls to Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday, March 17th at 7:00 PM.