Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT – On a chilly night Nick Rimando played his last regular season match for Real Salt Lake while his club was able to clinch a spot on the 2019 Audi Cup MLS playoffs. With tonight’s win Nick Rimando will play at least 2 more matches for Real Salt Lake.
The game started off with a bang when Corey Baird took his first shot just 34 seconds into the match after picking the ball off at midfield and sprinting to the top of the box and putting his club up early. Things went downhill for RSL after that and that ended up being the only shot they took in the first half. Even though Real Salt Lake held possession in the half they couldn’t respond to the way that Houston was overloading the center of the field and thwarting their ability to press forward. After VAR took back what looked like a goal for Houston they where able to draw even on a shot by Tomas Martinez in the 32nd minute.
When the second half started RSL had an improved spring in their step as it was obvious they had a new strategy for dealing with the Houston game plan. With Sebastian Saucedo coming on the 67th minute the final piece was in place as they took more shots after he entered that the rest of the match and Jefferson Savarino found the back of the net in the 75th minute in what would be the eventual game winner.
RSL currently sits in 5th place in the west with a small chance of getting a home match during the playoffs. For the Claret and Cobalt to move up first off they have to win against Vancouver next weekend and if the Galaxy lose or draw they would move into 4th position. If Minnesota and Seattle don’t get a draw and LA loses and RSL wins then RSL would move up to 3rd.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
Houston Dynamo 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
RSL – Corey Baird – 1′
HOU – Tomas Martinez – 32′
RSL – Jefferson Savarino – 75′
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Jefferson Savarino – 29′ – unsporting behavior
HOU – Tommy McNamara – 87′ – unsporting behavior
Officials
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant Referee: Brian Dunn
Assistant Referee: Chris Wattam
4th Official: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
Video Assistant Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Attendence: 18,117
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Nedum Onuoha; Marcelo Silva; Donny Toia; Aaron Herrera; Corey Baird; Kyle Beckerman; Damir Kreilach (Sebastian Saucedo, 67′); Albert Rusnak; Everton Luiz; Jefferson Savarino
Substitutes Not Used: Kelyn Rowe; Joao Plata; Brooks Lennon; Justen Glad; Sam Johnson; Andrew Putna
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; DaMarcus Beasley; Alejandro Fuenmayor; Aljaz Struna; Adam Lundkvist; Boniek Garcia; Tommy McNamara; Tomas Martinez; Darwin Ceren; Alberth Elis; Mauro Manotas (Christian Ramirez, 62′)
Substitutes Not Used: Kevin Garcia; Niko Hansen; Marlon Hairston; Michael Nelson; Memo Rodriguez; Jose Bizama
Next up for RSL
Real Salt Lake travels to BC Place for their last match of the regular season when they take on the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday, October 6th.