Real Salt Lake Heads To Colorado To Face Last-Place Rapids
May 10, 2019, 2:37 PM
Jeff Allred, Deseret News
SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake will face one of its biggest rivals this weekend when the club faces the Colorado Rapids in the first leg of this season’s Rocky Mountain Cup.
The Cup, which was created by supporters from the two clubs in 2007, has not been very competitive as of late. RSL has dominated the series, hoisting the cup in 10 of the last 12 years. In that span of time, RSL has outscored the Rapids by 27 goals.
The most recent meeting between the two clubs wasn’t much closer either. In that 6-0 thrashing by RSL on Aug. 25, 2018, midfielder Jefferson Savarino registered a brace while Damir Kreilach, Albert, Corey Baird and Joao Plata also found the back of the net. Nick Rimando picked up the shutout for RSL.
This Rocky Mountain 🏆 belongs to you. pic.twitter.com/YCjbl371d9
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 10, 2019
Important Road Match
After dropping the last match against Portland, Rusnak knows that getting points on the road will be important for the club’s postseason hopes.
“We lost some crucial games at home to some direct opponents for the playoff spots, it just means one thing, that we’re going to have to get the points on the road and it starts with this Saturday’s game at Colorado,” said the Slovakian attacking midfielder after training on Thursday.
There’s probably no better opportunity for RSL to pick up some ground in the standings than facing the Rapids this weekend. It’s been a difficult year for Colorado. The Rapids are the only club in Major League Soccer to not have a single victory under their belt and with just two points overall, are firmly entrenched at the bottom of the table.
The Rapids are led by striker Kei Kamara, who has played every single minute of action for Colorado this season. He has seven goals on the season, including five at home.
"I have to figure out what I am going to say."
Full episode 🎥➡️ https://t.co/1X22VHl0KP pic.twitter.com/eP8vLzBPR5— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) May 10, 2019
Injury Report
It’ll be up to RSL goalkeeper Andrew Putna to keep Kamara’s shots out of the cage. Putna will again get the start in goal, as Nick Rimando continues to recover from a knee injury, as reported by RSL public relations director Matt Gaschk on KSL Sports’ The RSL Lion’s Den podcast.
Along with Rimando, RSL will also be without midfielder Kyle Beckerman, who also missed the Portland match with hamstring tightness, according to Gaschk.
Broadcast Info
The match between RSL and Colorado can be streamed live on sports.ksl.com or on the KSL TV app.
