Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT – The Seattle Sounders came into Rio Tinto Stadium aiming to end Real Salt Lakes streak of 6 matches without a loss instead they added to the tally. This also marks the first win for Freddy Juarez after being named interim head coach. With both clubs having short turn around it was Seattle that chose to play back and try and counter and RSL as the aggressor. From the outset of the match RSL and with the defense showing fantastic form it looked easy for them to push forward and keep Seattle on their heels all night long.
It didn’t take long for Real Salt Lake to take advantage of overloading the front half when Aaron Herrera found Sam Johnson making a run and put the ball right in front of him and he drilled the ball past Stefan Frei in the 25th minute. By the end of the half RSL had taken 9 shots with the opposing side only taking 3 and none of them on target.
In the second half the altitude seemed to be getting the better of Seattle with the home team showing no signs of letting up. It was the 71st minute when Albert Rusnak fired one past Frei to put RSL up 2-0 that things really got out of hand for Seattle and it didn’t get better when Corey Baird put the nail in the coffin in the 87th minute.
Although this was the first match with Freddy Juarez as the official interim head coach he is no stranger to the position after his tenure at both the RSL Academy and the Real Monarchs he has filled in for Coach Petke a number of times this season. RSL looks to be in great form as the playoffs approach as tonight they jumped to 4th place in the West. With LAFC coming to Rio Tinto this Saturday the whole team is brimming with confidence and ready to take on the club with the best record in MLS.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 2 3
Seattle Sounders 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
RSL – Sam Johnson – 25′
RSL – Albert Rusnak – 71′
RSL – Corey Baird – 87′
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Everton Luiz – 52′ – unsporting behavior
SEA – Joevin Jones – 70′ – unsporting behavior
Officials
Referee: Armando Villereal
Assistant Referee: Nick Uranga
Assistant Referee: Jeffery Greeson
4th Official: Alex Chilowicz
Video Assistant Referee: Malik Badawi
Attendence: 17,825
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Aaron Herrera; Nedum Onuoha; Justen Glad (Marcelo Silva, 84′); Donny Toia; Sam Johnson (Justin Portillo, 66′); Everton Luiz; Jefferson Savarino; Albert Rusnak (Joao Plata, 76′) ; Corey Baird; Damir Kreilach
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Putna; Brooks Lennon; Kyle Beckerman; Sebastian Saucedo
Seattle Sounders: Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam (Handwalla Bwana, 76′) ; Saad Abdul-Salaam; Xavier Arreaga; Jonathan Campbell; Joevin Jones; Nicolas Lodeiro; Jordy Delem (Gustav Svensson, 64′); Cristian Roldan; Luiz Silva (Jordan Morris, 62′); Raul Ruidiaz
Substitutes Not Used: Bryan Meredith; Harry Shipp; Danny Leyva; Justin Dhillon
Next up for RSL
Los Angelos FC pays a visit to Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday August 17th and Real Salt Lake is looking to make a statement.