Diego Luna’s 76th Minute Equalizer Gives Real Salt Lake Road Point
Oct 14, 2023, 10:40 PM
Real Salt Lake midfielder Anderson Julio (29) kicks the ball to himself before kicking the game winning goal as Real Salt Lake and LA Galaxy play at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021. RSL won 2-1. (Courtesy of Deseret News)
(Courtesy of Deseret News)
SANDY, Utah – Diego Luna helped Real Salt Lake overcome a limited lineup and escape Los Angeles with a point as they battle for MLS playoff positioning.
Real Salt Lake finished in a 2-2 draw with the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday, October 14.
RELATED: Real Salt Lake Can’t Overcome Back-To-Back LA Galaxy Goals In Second Half
Headed home with +1 pic.twitter.com/htdTNJg22U
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 15, 2023
LA opened the scoring in the seventh minute when Dejan Joveljic found the back of the net past a diving Zac MacMath.
The lead ballooned to 2-0 when Joveljic found Douglas Costa with a perfect pass for a goal in the 34th minute.
Anderson Julio answered by putting his team on the scoreboard in stoppage time thanks to a Nelson Palacio pass.
ready. aim. fire. pic.twitter.com/bHRfaCPoHj
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 15, 2023
In the 76th minute, Real Salt Lake evened the game at two with Diego Luna’s fourth goal of the year. The goal was unassisted.
Real Salt Lake finished with six shots on goal with 20 attempts. The Galaxy attempted 16 shots with seven coming on frame.
First Half
RSL began the match with something to play for, building into a corner set piece in the opening minute. RSL came up empty but their aggressiveness set an early tone.
In the fourth minute, Diego Luna had a shot attempt blocked near the top of the box.
LA’s first corner came in the fifth minute. The Galaxy turned three successive corner attempts into a shot on frame that Zac MacMath turned away with a great diving save. Moments later, Dejan Joveljic bounced a low ball through the RSL defense and into the back of the net to give LA a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
7' | one for the dark side#LAvRSL | 1-0
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 15, 2023
Real’s best early chance came in the 18th minute when Bryan Oviedo sent a right-footed cross into the box that Andrew Brody deflected off the crossbar to end the threat.
RSL enjoyed a couple of scoring chances mid-half but the Galaxy controlled play with the Real Salt Lake backline fumbling possession away regularly.
The Galaxy doubled its lead in the 34th minute on a textbook one-touch pass from Joveljic to the foot of Douglas Costa. Costa took a dribble before blasting a ball past MacMath for a 2-0 lead.
MacMath came up huge on an LA breakaway in the 41st minute. MacMath came off his line to force a pass but MacMath recovered to take in the shot from Billy Sharp.
RELATED: Anderson Julio Gives RSL Huge First Half Goal Against LA Galaxy
In the half’s final seconds, Anderson Julio took a Nelson Palacio pass and knew just what to do with it. Julio’s fifth goal of the year Novak Micovic cut the Galaxy lead in half, 2-1.
Anderson Julio pulls one back before the break and cuts the lead in half, goal for #RSL ! @kslsports | @realsaltlake pic.twitter.com/ToslQEsJTz
— RSL Show on KSL (@rslshow) October 15, 2023
Second Half
LA had the first good scoring chance of the second half but MacMath turned away Billy Sharp for a second time with a nice diving stop in the 50th minute.
Another Galaxy scoring chance came in the 53rd minute as LA had several good looks at a shot before MacMath blocked away the attempt from Joveljic.
In the 64th minute, Diego Luna created a corner-kick chance for his team. The corner from Maikel Chang caromed off the head of Marcelo Silva and over the crossbar.
RELATED: Diego Luna Brings Real Salt Lake Even With LA Galaxy
After many chances, Diego Luna’s fourth goal of the year evened the score at two in the 76th minute.
Diego Luna's hard work pays off and ties the match 2-2 for @realsaltlake in LA – massive goal.#RSL | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/8Q94AawulH
— RSL Show on KSL (@rslshow) October 15, 2023
Late in the half, Axel Kei made his MLS debut for Real. At 15 years, 289 days old, Kei became the fourth youngest player in league history.
The second half ended in frenetic fashion with neither side able to find a game-winner.
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How To Watch Real Salt Lake
RSL concludes the 2023 regular season with a Saturday, October 21 match against the Colorado Rapids at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park. Kickoff for this tilt is scheduled for 7 p.m. (MT).
All Major League Soccer games are broadcasted on Apple TV with MLS Season Pass.
All Real Salt Lake English-language radio coverage for the 2023 season and beyond will be carried on various KSL radio signals. KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM) and KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM / 1160 AM) are both stations under the Bonneville International umbrella.
