Guilavogui brace powers Real Salt Lake past Sporting Kansas City, keeps playoff hopes alive

SANDY — Morgan Guilavogui scored twice, Sergi Solans added another and Real Salt Lake claimed its first road victory in more than seven months Saturday night, defeating longtime rival Sporting Kansas City 3-1 at Sporting Park.

The victory snapped a five-match road losing streak and gave RSL three crucial points in its pursuit of a Western Conference playoff berth with four matches remaining.

Noel Caliskan assisted both of Guilavogui’s goals as Salt Lake carried the aggressive mentality it displayed in Wednesday’s frustrating draw against San Jose into a performance that finally produced the desired result.

RSL won 42 of 69 duels (60.9%) on the night, with all ten field players committing to dogged defending.

“We had the same performance on Wednesday, didn’t get the result, so it feels good to finally get the three points that are merited after a performance like tonight,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni said afterward.

A dream start

Salt Lake needed just 11 minutes to break through, with Guilavogui playing a clever backheel to Juan Manuel Sanabria on the left wing.

Sanabria’s cross was headed back toward him by a Sporting defender, and the Uruguayan collected the ball before cutting it back to Caliskan, who was advancing through the penalty area.

Caliskan immediately slipped a perfectly weighted pass into Guilavogui’s path. The Frenchman took two small touches with his right foot, leaning left as goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland committed toward his near post, before calmly passing the ball into the far side netting.

“I think Morgan played his best game for us at a really, really important time,” Mastroeni said. “Not just the goals that he scored, but the passes, the decision-making, the defending. He was everywhere tonight.”

Three minutes later, Salt Lake doubled its advantage.

Kobi Henry split two defenders with a pass to Sanabria, whose cross found Guilavogui charging toward the penalty spot. His shot was blocked, but the ball fell directly into the path of Solans, who struck it first time with his right foot to make it 2-0.

Solans beelined to the sideline, where he embraced a fan who turned out to be his cousin.

But Sporting responded in the 26th minute after RSL’s attempt to play a short corner was intercepted and sent long to André Luiz on the right sideline.

Luiz muscled his way between Sanabria and Dominik Marczuk, dribbling into the box before squaring the ball to Taylor Calheira.

Calheira shifted onto his right foot as Rafael Cabral rushed out to challenge him, then chipped the ball over the goalkeeper. Marczuk had retreated to the goal line and desperately tried to get his head to the ball, but it sailed just beyond his reach and into the net, cutting Salt Lake’s lead to 2-1.

A defensive play that changed the game

Sporting nearly pulled level nine minutes into the second half, but Kobi Henry wasn’t having it.

Cabral’s attempted pass out of the back went directly to Luiz, who drove toward goal with Philip Quinton recovering and the goalkeeper scrambling to close him down.

Luiz chipped the ball over Cabral, but Henry had raced to the goal line and headed the would-be equalizer over the crossbar, sparing his goalkeeper’s blushes.

“I think that play did define the game, ‘cause oftentimes you think about the ones that you scored, but it’s also the ones that you keep out,” Mastroeni said. “And that was a pivotal moment in the game.”

The clearance highlighted another physical performance from Salt Lake’s revamped back line, which has benefited from the arrival of Canadian international Luc de Fougerolles.

Caliskan credited de Fougerolles’ speed and power with giving his fellow defenders greater freedom to step forward and challenge opponents, knowing he can cover the space behind them.

Morgan makes it three

Henry had preserved the lead. Guilavogui provided breathing room in the 61st minute.

Caliskan drove toward the left end line, drawing defenders before cutting the ball back into Guilavogui’s path. Guilavogui met it first time, directing his right-footed finish across goal for his second of the night and a 3-1 advantage.

“When we come at halftime, we say, ‘Two-one is not enough. We have to score more goals and keep pushing like this,’” Guilavogui said.

“Noel know me and I know his football,” Guilavogui said. “We don’t have to talk or to look. He know where I am, and I know where he put the ball.”

Caliskan described a similar sympatico, developed through training and matches together, while downplaying his own contributions.

“I just give them the ball and they make magic happen,” he said.

Sporting threatened again in the 67th minute when Calvin Harris redirected a corner against the post, but otherwise Salt Lake’s defense held firm. Henry later produced another well-timed challenge to deny Luiz, while de Fougerolles sent Harris and the ball tumbling out of play with a forceful tackle.

Four games remain, 12 points on offer

Caliskan believes taking all 12 remaining points would put Salt Lake comfortably into the playoffs.

“We know what’s at stake,” he said. “Four more games left. We’ve two at home, two away. And we wanna try to get 12 points.”

With road matches against Austin and San Jose still ahead, Caliskan has no intention of changing the approach that delivered Saturday’s victory.

“We don’t wanna hide by the fact that we’re the away team. We wanna be the aggressor.”