Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT – Real Salt Lake surges late as they tried to overcome a two goal deficit that they were able to cut to one before they failed to convert during the waning minutes of the match. After another short turn-around Real Salt Lake came into the match confident that they could get a result at home against the Galaxy but after getting behind they just couldn’t find a way to pull even before the final whistle.
Real Salt Lake took charge of the first half of play making David Bingham work hard. The shots started early with Jefferson Savarino taking his first shot in the 4th minute and getting the attention of everyone at the RioT. Next up was Albert Rusnak who had his effort blocked in the 16th minute the next best chance came in the 44th minute when Sam Johnson tried to put the home team up before the half. The Galaxy only took 3 shots in the half but neither shot from Ibrahimovic was on target and the clubs went to the locker room tied up.
The momentum shifted in the second half with the Galaxy showing a lot more spirit than the Claret and Cobalt. The first 15 minutes of the half RSL just was not on their game and the Galaxy was able to up their tempo and after Aaron Herrera got caught up in the turf Zlatan was able to find Cristian Pavon who fired the ball past Nick Rimando and put the Galaxy on top. The goal put the spark back in Real but in the 80th minute Justen Glad gave the ball to Pavon who capitalized on the error to get the ball into Ibrahimovic who doubled the lead. RSL was able to pull one back in the 89th minute when Nedum Onouha found himself in front of the goal with an incoming high shot from Everton Luiz. The last real chance to pull even came late in stoppage time with an off target shot by Sebastian Saucedo leaving RSL on the losing end of tonight’s affair.
With the loss tonight Real Salt Lake falls to 5th place in the west while the Galaxy were able to secure their spot in the playoffs. The fans wont have long to wait as they host the Houston Dynamo back here a the RioT this coming Sunday, September 29th.
At the half Real Salt Lake and the fans at the RioT paid tribute to the 2009 MLS Cup championship team as they welcomed Javier Morales, Jason Kreis, Nat Borchers, Andy Williams and many other players from that squad. Before the tribute was over Javier Morales and his number 11 were unveiled in the rafters of Rio Tinto Stadium.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1
LA Galaxy 0 2 2
Scoring Summary:
LAG – Cristian Pavon – 50′
LAG – Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 80′
RSL – Nedum Onouha – 89′
Misconduct Summary:
LAG – Diego Polenta – 36′ – unsporting behavior
LAG – Daniel Steres – 60′ – unsporting behavior
RSL – Albert Rusnak – 82′ – unsporting behavior
Officials
Referee: Rubiel Vazquez
Assistant Referee: Frank Anderson
Assistant Referee: Cory Richardson
4th Official: Sergii Demianchuk
Video Assistant Referee: Hilario Grejeda
Attendence: 20,838
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Aaron Herrera; Justen Glad; Nedum Onuoha; Donny Toia; Everton Luiz; Kyle Beckerman (Joao Plata, 87′); Jefferson Savarino (Sebastian Saucedo, 79′); Damir Kreilach; Albert Rusnak; Sam Johnson (Corey Baird, 59′)
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Putna; Marcelo Silva; Brooks Lennon; Kelyn Rowe
LA Galaxy : David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher ( Giancario Gonzalez, 81′); Daniel Steres; Diego Polenta; Dave Romney; Joe Corona (Servando Carrasoco, 80′); Jonathan Dos Santos; Uriel Antuna; Sebastian Lletget; Cristian Pavon (Julian Araujo, 87′); Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Substitutes Not Used: Matt Lampson; Jergen Skjelvik; Efrain Alverez; Chris Pontias