Real Salt Lake’s Cinderella playoff run ends in Rose City shutout

Portland Timbers midfielder Marvin Loria, 44, and Real Salt Lake midfielder Albert Rusnák, 11, battle for the ball in the first half of the Western Conference MLS soccer final on Saturday, December 4, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. Amanda Loman, Associated Press)

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SALT LAKE CITY – In an incredible run to the Western Conference finals as the highly unlikely No. 7 seed, Real Salt Lake made it a habit of scoring late goals and even later comebacks.

Portland led from the front in the final on Saturday.

Felipe Mora and Santiago Moreno scored in both halves as the Timbers ended Salt Lake’s unlikely run in the MLS Cup playoffs with a 2-0 shutout at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.

Steve Clark made three saves to secure the goal for the Timbers, who made it into the MLS Cup final for the second time in four years. This time, however, they will host the winner of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday between Philadelphia and New York City.

Real Salt Lake’s Cinderella reached the conference final – one that for the first time in league history made it through the first round without a single shot and a late goal on the road against a rival – with a 14-7 shot and a three-way shot at the target ended in the city of roses.

“It’s a very difficult moment, but I think when you’re on the sidelines, as a coach you give yourself to all the work,” said RSL interim manager Pablo Mastroeni. “Your execution and your belief in each other and the plan, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this group.

“Nobody gave us a chance earlier this season and nobody gave us a chance when the playoffs started. Having the mental strength to overcome the perception of who we are is fantastic. You can always do things from both of them Looking at perspectives, but I “couldn’t be more proud of the dedication and dedication of this group that I was able to lead.”

🗣️ Felipe Mora @ TimbersFC is on strike for less than 5 minutes! #PORvRSL // @ Audi # MLSCupPlayoffspic.twitter.com / cp2PxCBH8C

– Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 5, 2021

Mora used RSL’s open line-up in the first few minutes to find space in the penalty area and score the opening goal less than five minutes after the start of the game to give the Timbers a 1-0 lead. The 28-year-old Chilean took a miss on the defensive line and sent a clever touch into the far post to give the hosts control early on.

Santiago Moreno almost doubled the lead in the 30th minute, but his attempt to fend off a buried save by David Ochoa sailed high over the bar. Aaron Herrera found Damir Kreilach just as quickly on the edge of the box before Portland goalkeeper Steve Clark in 33.

The two teams combined 10 shots, four shots on goal and four corner kicks in a continuous first half and a fight for a place in the MLS Cup final. But Ochoa made two saves to keep Salt Lake within striking distance at break.

Moreno eventually doubled their lead in the 60th minute, moments after Mora was substituted, hitting a ball from range on the inside of his left shoe and glancing from the back of an outstretched Ochoa for Moreno’s first play-off goal of his career , that was almost certainly the Timbers’ entry into the MLS Cup final.

OMG! SANTIAGO MORENO WITH A GOLAZO! 💥 # PORvRSL // @ Audi # MLSCupPlayoffspic.twitter.com / fGeMDrizcW

– Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 5, 2021

Herrera was sent off with a second yellow card in the 80th minute, forcing RSL to play the last 10 minutes of the regulations with only 10 men. Diego Valeri, the former star-studded Argentine in his ninth season at Portland, crossed the line as a late substitute.

The win ended the most complicated season in the history of Real Salt Lake, which was played under the leadership of the league and without a full-time owner. The club also lost former head coach Freddy Juarez, who resigned in August to take up a position as assistant coach with the Seattle Sounders before Mastroeni was named interim head coach.

Even so, the players never gave up on each other. They snuck into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season – at the last minute, with an injury winner from Kreilach in Kansas City in a competitive game for RSL. That led to unforgettable weeks in which the team continued to #believe until the cold, rainy climax on Saturday in the Pacific Northwest.

“This team is something special,” said Kreilach, who was named MLS All-Star in the summer but gave up the league’s postseason as the league’s best XI despite 16 goals and nine assists. “It was 11 months ago when we started the preseason, a month earlier than it should be. We trained on our own. We put so much hard work into proving what we did this year.

“Not that many people believed in us because they didn’t understand the quality we had on our team. This year we had ups and downs, which is normal, but we have every time we hit the wall We For this reason I would like to refer not only to the team, but also to the coaching staff, the medical staff, the media staff, our fans, the entire organization was on the same page this season. That’s why the team had such a good run. Unfortunately we didn’t quite go through it, but these moments, like the moment tonight, could pull you down in the future or you can learn from them and these moments can pull you up. We learned so much from that experience, also from this game today, and next season we will prove again what we have shown this year. “

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