Real Salt Lake Climb Western Conference Standings After Impressive Outing Against Galaxy
Sep 23, 2020, 9:54 PM | Updated: 11:58 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake is back on track following a dominant 2-0 victory over the LA Galaxy at home on Wednesday evening. The victory marked the first win for RSL at home in three attempts.
The last handful of games have not panned out in favor of RSL, but tonight the claret and cobalt were able to turn that around against the LA Galaxy.
“We spoke about the importance of getting three points during our pre-match meeting and we didn’t care if we won ugly or not we knew we needed to pick up three points and it was nice that we were able to,” Rusnak said in the post-game press conference.
The first half offered a couple of great opportunities, one for each team, but after Pavon’s shot rattled the woodwork and the referee decided not to look at the VAR monitor following Kreilach being dragged down in the box, the scores were level at the main interval.
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 24, 2020
Immediately following the start of the second half, RSL had a number of very good opportunities to score. They came out of halftime with their hair on fire, it seemed.
The missed opportunities started to bring flashbacks of just a few nights ago when RSL managed 25 shots to Vancouver’s 8 but were unable to make the most of their opportunities and ended up losing the game 2-1.
Then in the 64th minute, Nedum Onuoha had seen enough and decided to take matters into his own hands. He won the ball in his own half and went on a stroll, dancing and gliding around opposing Galaxy defenders before he played a ball into the feet of Everton Luiz who had a paddock of space some 30 yards from goal. Luiz fed Justin Meram into goal, Galaxy goalkeeper David Bingham came charging off his line, Meram stepped around him, felt contact and went down.
The referee pointed to the spot. Penalty for RSL.
Justin earns the PK, Albert converts. #RSL up 1-0 pic.twitter.com/7dPRBQItor
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 24, 2020
Fortunately, Rusnak would bury the ball into the top left corner of the net despite Bingham getting a touch on it.
It was 1-0 RSL and it was deserving.
Seven minutes later, Rusnak found himself with the ball buried up against the near corner flag. The movement for RSL lacked and his options were limited until Kreilach started to utilize the space he was provided just inside the area.
Rusnak played a fast and dangerous ball along the ground, Rusnak opened his hips and placed the football into the bottom right corner beating Bingham in the process. The ball from Rusnak was special, it was on target and carried the perfect amount of weight for Kreilach to be able to control it comfortably. Brilliant.
What a beaut 😍#RSL up 2-0 pic.twitter.com/1lapLX5Q23
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 24, 2020
RSL led 2-0 with time running out for the Galaxy to respond.
RSL was able to hang on and pick up its first win at home in two previous attempts.
The win also catapulted RSL up the Western Conference standings and despite starting the evening as the second-worst team in the conference, they now sit in 8th spot, one point shy from being in a playoff position.
“It is a tough race, one win can bump you into the playoff picture and a loss can bump you out so it feels good to get a win this evening,” Donny Toia said during the post-game press conference.
FINAL: @realsaltlake 2 – 0 LA Galaxy#RSL found the form they have been looking for this evening against the Galaxy. #RSLonKSL #RSL
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 24, 2020
Next Match
RSL will have a few days off before they make their second trip to Minnesota this season. The match against United is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. on Sunday, September 27th.
The match will be broadcast on sports.ksl.com or on the KSL TV app.
