America First Field, Sandy, UT – Tonight fans were treated to a real battle between RSL and Sporting Kansas City and comes away with 3 points. Things started early with a lot of physical play as both clubs fight for their post season survival. RSL struck first with a shot from Diego Luna in the 40th minute with the loan first half goal. Alex Katranis added to the tally in the 62nd minute but a deflection off of Brayan Vera into the goal in the 71st minute gave Sporting a bit of life with the own goal. Rafael Cabral was otherwise perfect on the night with at least one super hero save to keep the Claret and Cobalt in the winning column for the night. This was a must win for Real Salt Lake and they played with the intensity you would expect with so much on the line.
It was a beautiful night for soccer in what might be a must win for both clubs if they have any post season aspirations. With so much on the line there was bound to be lots of physical play and the fans were not let down as the match started and the action didn’t let up. RSL lead the half in shots and it really looked like we were in for a real slug fest and it would be a fight to see who blinked first. It ended up that Kansas City was the first to give up a goal as Diego Luna caught the deflected shot and it past Pulscamp in the 40th minute to put the Claret and Cobalt in the drivers seat. It was a bit of surprise that no yellow cards were shown in the half and when the whistle blew it was RSL on top with the loan goal from Luna.
There were no changes at the half and the play picked up right where it had left off at the break. We did see our first yellow shown to Rwan Cruz in the 59th minute but the physical play was still a factor. Real doubled their lead with a shot and a goal from Alex Katranis in the 62nt minute. Sporting was able to pull one back in the 71st minute when a shot was deflected off of Brayan Vera past an unsuspecting Cabral. Just 2 minutes later it looked like Kansas City might level things if not for an amazing save by Cabral in what will be a sure highlight of the match. The match was not in hand until the final whistle blew with SKC on the losing end of the battle. Their hopes of returning home with a result dashed after they have won their last 2 matches.
Justen Glad was shown a yellow card in the waning minutes of the match in what looked like a clear case of unsportsmanlike conduct from the opposing player. In what looked to be a slug fest it is surprising that there were only 2 yellow cards shown and even more surprising that both were shown to RSL players as multiple times we saw players thrown to the ground without a yellow. I’m not sure what instructions PRO gave this week but it certainly felt like there was a bit of balance lacking from Drew Fischer tonight. At least the home club came out on top tonight in what felt like a playoff match.
RSL fans showed their charitable nature with the annual teddy bear toss at half time. Tonight is the first time that Johnny Russell had the chance to play against his former club and fans really wanted to see him on the pitch but his number wasn’t call and we will have to wait that matchup. With the win tonight Real moves into 10th place in the west just one spot out playoff contention. With just six matches remaining in the season every point is critical and RSL has a tough couple of matches coming up as they match up with LAFC twice in a row first at home on Wednesday, September 17th and then away on Saturday, September 21st.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
Sporting Kansas City 0 1 1
Scoring Summary
RSL – Diego Luna – 40′
RSL – Alex Katranis – 62′
SKC – Brayan Vera – 71′ OG
Misconduct Summary
RSL – Rwan Cruz – 59′ – foul
RSL – Justen Glad – 90’+4′ – foul
Officials
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referee: Corey Rockwell
Assistant Referee: Kathryn Nesbitt
4th Official: Brad Jensen
Video Assistant Referee: Ramy Touchan
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
Attendence: 20,172
Lineups
Real Salt Lake: Rafael Cabral; Alex Katranis (Sam Junqua, 72′); Brayan Vera; Justen Glad; Noel Caliskan; Diego Luna (Diogo Goncalves, ; Braian Ojeda; Emeka Eneli; Zavier Gozo 79′)(Tyler Wolff, 72′); Victor Olatunji; Rwan Cruz (William Agada, 72′)
Substitutes Not Used: Mason Stajduhar; Johnny Russell; Philip Quinton; Ariath Piol
Head Coach: Pablo Mastroeni
Sporting Kansas City: John Pulskamp; Khiry Shelton; Jansen Miller; Jaoquin Fernandez; (Alan Montes, 63′) Logan Ndembe; Nemaja Radoja; Jacob Davis (Memo Garcia, 78′); Jacob Bartlett (Mason Toye, 63′); Shapi Soleymanov (Erik Thommy, 63′); Dejan Jovelic; Daniel Salloi (Santiago Munoz, 85′)
Substitutes Not Used: Robert Voloder; Memo Rodriguez; Tim Leibold; Ryan Schewe
Head Coach: Kerry Zavagnin
Tags: Major League Soccer, MLS, Real Salt Lake, RSL, SKC, Soccer, Sporting Kansas City