Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT – Real Salt Lake was able to salvage a point in their first home match of the season with a late goal by Damir Kreilach. It was an early goal from Cristian Casseres Jr. that put the Red Bulls on top and looking to win their second consecutive goal to start the 2020 MLS Season. The lead held until the first minute of second half stoppage time and gave Real Salt Lake their second tie.
Real Salt Lake fans were excite to be back at the RioT with the New York Red Bulls in town to kick off the 2020 Major League Soccer season. With a noon start on an unseasonable warm day the chants from the supporter section were at full volume. There was a palpable drop in the atmosphere when Cristian Casseres Jr. fired a shot past Zac MacMath to the bottom corner of the net in the 13th minute. The Claret and Cobalt took the set back in stride taking 11 shots on goal and controlling almost 66% of possession before the break.
RSL kept the pressure up on both ends when they returned to the pitch taking 10 more shots and allowing the Red Bulls only 1 shot after only taking 3 in the first half. The fans went crazy in the 70th minute when Douglas Martinez was left unmarked in the box and slid the ball past David Jensen. The cheers then turned to jeers as VAR ruled that Martinez had handled the ball before the shot. The set back changed the spark that RSL had been playing with to a roaring fire, with a non-stop attack on the Red Bulls goal that included 7 shots in the last 20 minutes and in the first minute of stoppage time Damir Kreilach was the one who put in the goal that seemed inevitable to make sure the team earned a result.
The home fans finally got a chance to see Justen Meram and he did not disappoint. Meram played a big role in the statistical success of RSL showing he knows how to move the ball effectively and he can find the open players as well as chances at the net. In the 59th minute Douglas Martinez came on for Nick Besler and brought a level of energy to the pitch that pushed the line forward and almost earned him a goal. With the exception of Casseres’ goal the RSL defenders had an epic night with Nedum Onuoha, Donny Toia, Aaron Herrera and Marcelo Silva not allowing New York any corner kicks and only 1 shot from inside the box while the defensive back field was able to take 8 shots at David Jensen.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1
New York Red Bulls 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
NYRB – Cristian Casseres Jr – 13′
RSL – Damir Kreilach – 91′
Misconduct Summary:
NYRB – Patrick Seagrist – 35′ – unsporting behavior
RSL – Marcelo Silva – 54′ – unsporting behavior
NYRB – Kyle Duncan – 73′ – unsporting behavior
RSL – Douglas Martinez – 80′ – unsporting behavior
Officials
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referee: Nick Uranga
Assistant Referee: Peter Manikowski
4th Official: Nima Saghafi
Video Assistant Referee: Younes Marrakchi
Attendence: 18,093
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: Zac MacMath; Marcelo Silva; Nedum Onuoha; Aaron Herrera; Donny Toia; Nick Besler (Douglas Martinez, 59′); Evertonz Luiz; Albert Rusnak; Damir Kreilach; Justin Meram (Jeizon Ramirez, 88′); Corey Baird
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Putna; Justen Glad; Maikel Chang; Justin Portillo; Pablo Ruiz
New York Red Bulls: David Jensen; Kyle Duncan; Tim Parker; Amro Tarek; Patrick Seagrist; Florian Valot (Josh Sims, 68′); Sean Davis; Christian Casseres Jr.; Kaku (Marc Rzatkowski, 77′); Brian White (Tom Barlow, 65′); Daniel Royer
Substitutes Not Used: Kendell McIntosh; John Tolkin; Sean Nealis; Mathias Jorgensen
Next up for RSL
Real Salt Lake is on the road again next week when they pay a visit to Mapfre Stadium home of the Columbus Crew on Saturday March 14th.