Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT – Real Salt Lake was dominant at home as they continue their undefeated record at Rio Tinto Stadium putting away San Jose 2-0. Marcelo Silva started the scoring early in the first half and Jefferson Savarino added to the tally with his first goal back in and RSL kit. This is the best start in club history with a record of winning 8 of their first 16 matches and splitting the the rest with 4 draws and 4 loses. In the current standings RSL is only 2 points behind LAFC in both the conference and in the Supporters Shield standings.
The home club took control of this match early on setting the tone for the night pushing the ball forward and making San Jose play on their heals. Bobby Wood went down hard early on and was replaced by Rubio Rubin in the 20th minute. After the restart it didn’t take long for the Claret and Cobalt to capitalize on the energy with Marcelo Silva putting his club on top in the 22nd minute with a right footed shot from the center of the box to the bottom left corner. The best chance came just before the break was a shot into he net from Savarino but he was ruled offsides. There were a number of other chances created before the half but the Silva’s lone goal was the only score before they hit the locker room.
There were a few rain drops through the match but it didn’t cool down Real in the second half. Early in the half there was an onslaught of shots at the goal from RSL but JT Marcinkowski was able to hold them off. With RSL taking 16 shots it was only a matter of time until they extended their lead and they were able to capitalize late in the match when Jefferson Savarino beat a defender and put the ball in the back of the net in the 81st minute of play. It is great to see Jefferson pick up where he left off with the club. San Jose was unable to keep up with the energy that Real Salt Lake was able to keep up for the full 90 minutes and went home with no goals and no points.
Not only was this Marcelo Silvas second goal of the season but it is also his second game winner. Tonight was Jeffersons Savarino’s first start since returning to RSL and his first goal of the season. It looks like the fans are welcoming the new ownership in style with the seventh consecutive home sell out. Even without Damir Kreilach Real Salt Lake is having their best start to a season in club history.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
San Jose Earthquakes 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
RSL – Marcelo Silva – 22′
RSL – Jefferson Savarino – 81′
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Tate Schmitt – 31′ – unsporting behavior
SAN – Cristian Espinosa – 68′ – unsporting behavior
SAN – Nathan – 79′ – unsporting behavior
RSL – Everton Luiz – 84′ – unsporting behavior
Officials
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant Referee: Frank Anderson
Assistant Referee: Ryan Graves
4th Official: Chris Ruska
Video Assistant Referee: Kevin Stott
AVAR: Joshua Patlak
Attendence: 20517
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: Zac MacMath; Andrew Brody; Justen Glad; Tate Schmitt; Marcelo Silva; Justin Meram; Jefferson Savarino (Maikel Chang, 82′); Scott Caldwell (Matt Besler, 76′); Jasper Loffelsend (Everton Luiz, 76′); Bobby Wood (Rubio Rubin, 20′); Sergio Codova (Anderson Julio, 82′)
Substitutes Not Used: Johan Kappelhof; Erik Holt; Tomas Gomez
San Jose Earthquakes: JT Marcinkowski; Paul Marie (Ousseni Bouda, 82′); Nathan; Tanner Beason; Marcos Lopez; Jackson Uieil; Jamiro Monteiro; Judson (Jan Gregus, 69′); Cristian Espinoza; Jeremy Ebobisse (Shea Salinask, 69′); Benji Kikanovic
Substitutes Not Used: Matt Bersano; Jack Skahan; Will Richmond; Tommy Thompson; Oskar Agren
Next up for RSL
Real Salt Lake welcomes the Columbus Crew to Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday June 25th as they try to continue their climb up the Western Conference.