Real Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes Set For Round Of 16 Blockbuster
Jul 22, 2020, 10:47 PM | Updated: Jul 27, 2020, 1:02 am
ORLANDO, Florida – Real Salt Lake learned their place in the knockout stage of the MLS Is Back tournament after Minnesota United and the Colorado Rapids drew on Wednesday night, rounding out the final game of Group D.
RSL will take the wild card spot coming out of Group D, and will play San Jose Earthquakes on July 27 at 6:30 p.m. on FS1.
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Moving on pic.twitter.com/QkmZgrrXlv
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) July 22, 2020
What To Know About San Jose
The Earthquakes topped Group B with an impressive group stage showing. The Quakes began tournament proceedings with a 0-0 draw against the reigning MLS Champions, Seattle Sounders, before beating Vancouver 4-3 and rounding out their final group stage fixture with a 2-0 win against Chicago Fire.
San Jose is led by their captain and all-time leading MLS goalscorer Chris Wondolowki who leads the team with two goals in tournament play.
That's 161 @MLS goals.
Chris Wondolowski.
The King of Goals. pic.twitter.com/4X9rQBIENf
— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) July 20, 2020
How They Got Here
RSL got out to a promising start in the MLS Is Back tournament, beating up on Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado Rapids 2-0. Albert Rusnak and Damir Kreilach both knotted goals in an impressive tournament debut.
A 0-0 stalemate unfolded during RSL’s second fixture against Minnesota United in a game that produced more defensive highlights than offensive.
In RSL’s final group stage, despite already having clinched a playoff spot, the claret and cobalt fell to Sporting Kansas City 2-0. Despite RSL controlling the possession, RSL was unable to capitalize on their opportunities. Furthermore, SKC exposed RSL on the counter-attack, outshooting RSL 10 to 5.
Four Regular Season Points Pocketed
The group stage matches of the MLS Is Back tournament had regular-season point ramifications on offer. Through RSL’s three group stage matches they were able to pick up four points from a possible nine to add to their regular-season point tally.
During the knockout rounds, however, regular-season points will not be on offer. Rather, the winner of the MLS Is Back tournament will be rewarded with automatic qualification to the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League. It has been five years since RSL last qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League.
