SANDY, Utah (Saturday, April 30, 2016) – Real Salt Lake moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Western Conference and improved to a perfect 4-0-0 at home with a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo at Rio Tinto Stadium.
In the final match at Rio Tinto Stadium until June 18 while the pitch undergoes renovation, FW Jordan Allen and FW Yura Movsisyan each scored goals in the come-from-behind victory. GK Nick Rimando finished the night with four saves, including two spectacular stops in the second half to preserve the victory. RSL (5-1-2, 17 points) is now tied with the Colorado Rapids (5-2-2) and FC Dallas (5-3-2), who have both played more matches this season than the Claret-and-Cobalt.
Houston had most of the ball through the first 15 minutes of the match, but in the 16th minute, FW Juan Manuel Martinez had a pair of chances that forced Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis into difficult saves.
Martinez got in up the left side after outmuscling Sheanon Williams in the midfield. He burst into the box and cut back to his right foot, but his shot was knocked clear by the Houston keeper. RSL recycled its run and MF Javier Morales played it back up the left side for Martinez but his first-time shot was saved again by Willis to keep the match scoreless.
From that point forward, RSL outshot Houston 6-1 through the remainder of the half, but the two teams still went into halftime scoreless.
After the break, RSL sprung into the attack, with Martinez missing just outside the far post on a run up the left side just 21 seconds into the second half.
Then the Dynamo snatched the lead in the 54th minute.
Ricardo Clark spun a shot in the box that was saved by Rimando, but he deflected the ball wide to Houston’s attacking left side. Giles Barnes recovered it and played it to Miranda at the top of the box. Miranda then tucked a right-footed shot through traffic and inside the near post for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 Dynamo lead.
RSL nearly equalized in the 58th minute as Martinez darted past Williams up the left side and whipped a ball to the near post for Movsisyan, but his point-blank header missed just over the crossbar.
The equalizer did come in the 62nd minute through Allen.
After a corner kick was cleared from the Houston box, DF Justen Glad recovered the ball and played it wide to the right for Allen, who took a touch and blasted a shot past Willis for his first goal of the season to even it up at 1-1.
RSL then grabbed the lead in the 70th minute on a goal from Movsisyan.
Allen played DF Demar Phillips in behind the defense on the left side and Phillips cut a cross to Movsisyan at the near post, where he slid to knock the ball home for his second goal of the season and a 2-1 RSL lead.
Houston nearly tied it back up in the 80th minute, but Rimando made a miracle save to keep Salt Lake in the lead.
First, Miranda got into the box and shot from the left side, sending it for the far side netting, but Rimando made a sprawling effort to get a hand to it and tip it into the post. On the rebound, Andrew Wenger struck a shot from six yards out and as Rimando sprung across his box, Wenger’s shot caromed off his face for the save. Rimando was left on the ground and was tended to by medical staff before returning to his feet and finishing the match.
Salt Lake held on to earn the win for the club’s fourth straight home win. While the pitch at Rio Tinto Stadium is replaced, Real Salt Lake will play its first of five consecutive road matches on May 7 against the Colorado Rapids. It’s the second meeting of the season against the Rapids after RSL won 1-0 on April 9.
GAME NOTES – RSLvHOU
- Saturday marked the 300th career RSL start across all competitions for GK Nick Rimando. Last week he became just the second player in MLS history to reach the 400 regular season match milestone, joining Kevin Hartman (418). MF Kyle Beckerman is second on RSL’s all-time, all-competitions appearance list, making his 290th appearance Saturday.
- RSL played without FW Joao Plata, who suffered a quad injury in training on Wednesday. He leads the club with four goals and four assists.
- DF Aaron Maund had started and played 90 minutes in 24 of the last 25 MLS regular season matches and 38 of the last 40 across all competitions for RSL, but left the match Saturday in the 36th minute after suffering a right hamstring injury in a collision with Houston forward Giles Barnes. His substitution ended a streak of 1,566 consecutive minutes played.
REAL SALT LAKE 2-1 HOUSTON DYNAMO
SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2016
RIO TINTO STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 2 2
Houston Dynamo 0 1 1
Scoring Summary:
HOU: Leonel Miranda (Giles Barnes) 54’
RSL: Jordan Allen (Justen Glad) 62’
RSL: Yura Movsisyan (Demar Phillips, Jordan Allen) 70’
Misconduct Summary:
HOU: DaMarcus Beasley (Caution; Foul) 3’
HOU: Ricardo Clark (Caution; Foul) 24’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Justen Glad, Aaron Maund (Jamison Olave 36’), Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman, Sunday Stephen (Luke Mulholland 85’); Juan Manuel Martinez (Devon Sandoval 88’), Javier Morales, Jordan Allen; Yura Movsisyan.
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Olmes Garcia, John Stertzer, Chris Wingert.
Houston Dynamo (4-2-3-1): Joe Willis; Sheanon Williams, Raul Rodriguez, Agus, DaMarcus Beasley (Cristian Maidana 83’); Collen Warner (Will Bruin 75’), Ricardo Clark; Andrew Wenger, Boniek Garcia (Erick Torres 82’), Leonel Miranda; Giles Barnes.
Substitutes not used: Calle Brown, David Horst, Abdoulie Mansally, David Rocha.
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Ian Anderson
Fourth Official: Alan Kelly
Attendance: 19,950
Weather: Cloudy and 57
