VANCOUVER, BC – Real Salt Lake falls to Vancouver on the road at BC Place on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 1 – 2. RSL took the lead in the 57th minute when DF Nat Borchers headed home a corner kick taken by MF Javier Morales. RSL was unable to sustain the lead however, conceding twice as Vancouver Captain Pedro Morales converted his second PK attempt in the 62nd minute and notched the game-winner in the 78th minute to grab the win.
Real Salt Lake backup GK Jeff Attinella, came up huge for the Claret-and-Cobalt in the 45th minute, saving Pedro Morales’ penalty kick to keep the score level at 0-0. RSL FW Alvaro Saborio was whistled for the controversial PK in the 45th minute, when Chapman called the Costa Rican international for a foul in the box during a Vancouver corner kick. Attinella bailed RSL out, stopping the PK by correctly diving to his right and blocking Morales’ shot.
Real Salt Lake will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 30, when it hosts USL PRO’s Sacramento Republic FC in an exhibition match at Rio Tinto Stadium at 7:30 p.m. MT.
Lineups for the game:
Real Salt Lake (4-1-2-1-2): Jeff Attinella; Abdoulie Mansally Carlos Salcedo, Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman (C), Luis Gil (Ned Grabavoy, 69’), Luke Mulholland (Sebastian Velasquez, 82’), Javier Morales; Alvaro Saborio (Sebastian Jaime, 69’), Joao Plata
Substitutes not used: Lalo Fernandez; Aaron Maund; Cole Grossman; Devon Sandoval
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-2-3-1): David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Andy O’Brien, Kendall Watson, Jordan Harvey; Mauro Rosales (Nicolas Mezquida, 64’), Matias Laba, Pedro Morales (C), Russell Teibert; Sebastian Fernandez (Kekuta Manneh, 77’), Erik Hurtado (Darren Mattocks, 68’)
Substitutes not used: Paolo Tornaghi; Sam Adekugbe, Mehdi Ballouchy, Ethen Sampson,
Quotes from Real Salt Lake Head Coach Jeff Caesar
Thoughts on the match:
“The quality that Real [Salt lake] has been typically known for just wasn’t there. The fight was there, the intensity was there, but we just didn’t play good enough soccer tonight. Credit to Vancouver, they were aggressive. We were aggressive too, just not good enough tonight.”
On his decision to rest/not rest his starters:
“Any players that I put out there, I think are first-teamers and starters. There were four or five changes to our lineup from our last lineup [against Colorado]. “
On whether the penalty kick calls were correct:
“I’m not pleased about it. I’m just not pleased about it. Obviously, we put ourselves in those positions, but I’m not pleased. Really disappointed. It’s tough enough to go on the road and try to get a result, but it’s even tougher when you’ve got two PK calls against you.”
Thoughts on GK Jeff Attinella’s play:
“I thought he did a great job. Obviously he made a huge save on the PK, but really commanded his box well, looked very comfortable and really did a great job.
On playing a desperate Vancouver side:
“I actually thought our soccer was pretty good. You know, it’s a team that had their backs against the wall, and you saw them tonight that they were fighting hard on every play. There was no give up on that team, and that’s a credit to coach Robinson. They kept going. We kept going, too, but it just wasn’t our night.”