SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake sweeps Seattle Sounders following a 2-1 win at Lumen Field on Sunday evening and remains in the fifth position in the west.
Manager Pablo Mastroeni opted to make only one change from last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to LAFC as he brought in Maikel Chang who replaced Anderson Julio in the starting XI.
As expected, the match began with a high tempo from both teams fighting for a playoff position. Seattle, the home team, naturally dominated the opening exchanges as Real Salt Lake retreated deep into their own half.
Fortunate Real Salt Lake start
Seattle found the back of the net first due to a promising start when Raúl Ruidíaz hit a shot from outside the box that echoed off the crossbar and into the back of Zac MacMath’s head before finding the back of the net. However, after a delayed start, the head referee was instructed to view the monitor by VAR and it was determined that Cristian Roldan was in an offside position before he played the ball to Ruidíaz.
The opportunity came from another defensive error by RSL’s defense when Marcelo Silva was caught dribbling from the last line of defense. It was the luck RSL needed following multiple weeks of poor defensive errors.
Cordova Scores Again
The fortune sparked Real Salt Lake who looked to be more confident and composed on the ball.
The breakthrough came in the 32nd minute when Jefferson Savarino played a long through ball onto the striding legs of Córdova who beat Stefen Frei after dribbling around him. It was Córdova’s second goal in as many matches who now leads RSL in goals scored with six.
this is our favorite video on the internet pic.twitter.com/fMXinPHHxM
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 15, 2022
As the game continued, Seattle became increasingly desperate to find an equalizer as their home fans grew in frustration.
Rusnák Responds For Seattle
Former RSL captain Albert Rusnák found his second goal of the year when he beat MacMath at his near post from outside the box to level proceedings in the 62nd. To Rusnák’s credit, he refused to celebrate in a show of respect to his former club as he trotted back to the center of the pitch.
Andrew Brody Back Post Winner
The Rusnák goal was quickly answered by Real Salt Lake when Savarino picked out Andrew Brody on the back post in the 64th minute. Brody hit the cross on the volley beating Frei who nearly came up with a miraculous save with his left foot.
Sava has been the delivery man all night 📬 pic.twitter.com/q2fyRsTU5L
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) August 15, 2022
In the dying minutes Seattle came incredibly close to equalizing but the might of Real Salt Lake proved too much and the defensive effort prevailed.
Freddy Montero and Jordan Morris both missed open headers six yards out over the crossbar. In the final minute, Jimmy Medranda flashed a volley across the face of goal that came within inches of Montero’s boot but again failed to score.
The match concluded 2-1 in favor of Real Salt Lake, who took all six points from Seattle in 2022 after previously beating the Sounders 1-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium earlier in the year.
As a result of the victory, Real Salt Lake remained in the fifth position in the Western Conference. However, Seattle fell from the eighth position to the ninth as Portland leapfrogged them. RSL now sits one point behind Minnesota who occupies the fourth position and two points behind the third placed FC Dallas.
Next Real Salt Lake Match
Real Salt Lake will return home and play the Vancouver Whitecaps next Saturday, August 20th.
Kickoff is scheduled for 8 pm and will be available to stream for free via the KSL Sports and KSL 5 TV apps or on KSL Sports dot com.
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