SANDY, Utah (Saturday, March 18, 2017) – An early first-half goal from FW Yura Movsisyan didn’t prove to be what Real Salt Lake needed to keep the three points after a second-half surge from the LA Galaxy.
RSL got out to a commanding start, putting the Galaxy on its heels early and creating multiple chances within the first 20 minutes. RSL youngsters FW Brooks Lennon and FW Sebastian Saucedo provided the early spark RSL needed to get their goal.
In a series of combinations in the corner of the field, Lennon found the feet of MF Albert Rusnák who delivered a beautiful cross that found the head of Movsisyan who’s snap header flew past Galaxy goalkeeper Clement Diop for the game’s opening goal.
The match turned on its head near the end of halftime when RSL MF Kyle Beckerman was sent off after a late challenge near midfield for his second yellow card.
The second half brought physical and tactical play from both sides. The RSL dam finally broke in the 70th minute when the Galaxy was able to level the match through a thunderous David Romney volley from a Romain Alessandrini corner kick.
The winner came just four minutes later when a failed clearance from RSL found the feet of Alessandrini, who slid the ball across the face of goal to Emmanuel Boateng who tucked the ball home from seven yards.
Despite making all three substitutions RSL head coach Jeff Cassar and the RSL attack couldn’t come up with an equalizer of their own as the game finished 2-1 in favor of the Galaxy.
UP NEXT: RSL will travel to the east coast to face off against the New York Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. The last meeting between the two teams came on June 22 at Rio Tinto Stadium, a game that saw the claret-and-cobalt walk away 2-1 victors courtesy of goals from Yura Movsisyan and Jordan Allen. RSL is (5-5-8) all-time against the Red Bulls scoring 25 goals in the process.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
RSL – Yura Movsisyan (Albert Rusnak), 18th minute: After quick exchanges in the corner for RSL, the ball popped free to Beltran who laid the ball off to Rusnak in space. Rusnak whipped in a well-timed cross that met the head of Movsisyan who was able to hold off his defender and head the ball past Diop from the middle of the penalty area, into the far side netting.
LA – David Romney (Romain Alessandrini), 70th minute: Strong pressure on the right side led to an LA Galaxy corner kick. The set piece was taken beautifully by Alessandrini as it curled into the center of the box. Romney was able to lose his defender and meet the ball with a smashing left footed volley that left RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando rooted to his line.
LA – Emmanuel Boateng (Romain Alessandrini), 74th minute: A missed clearance from RSL’s backline let the ball fall to Alessandrini who was able to fire the ball across the box to an awaiting Boateng on the back post . Boateng made an easy meal of the chance as he smashed the ball in from seven yards.
KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS:
LA – David Romney, 24th minute: RSL midfielder Sebastian Saucedo worked the ball well on the left side, creating space for himself to get a cross off near the end line. Romney was able to read Saucedo’s intentions and disrupt the low cross.
LA – Bradley Diallo, 43rd minute: As an attempted clearance from the Galaxy failed, the ball fell loose in the penalty area where RSL midfielder Luke Mulholland attempted to hop on the loose ball between two defenders but Diallo’s hard sliding challenge to clear the ball made the difference.
RSL – Tony Beltran, 55th minute: With the Galaxy pressing down the right side, Beltran was able to cut out two crosses en route to the center of the box.
RSL – Nick Rimando, 62nd minute: A ball crossed in from wide looked destined to find the feet of Galaxy forward Jack McBean but Rimando was quick off his line near the center of the box to collect the cross.
RSL – Nick Rimando, 73rd minute: Another wonderful cross met the head of Jermaine Jones but Rimando was up to the task, diving low to his left to parry the ball out for a corner kick.
NOTES:
- On loan from Liverpool FC, 19-year-old RSL Academy product Brooks Lennon made his RSL debut, starting the match, playing the full 90 minutes. Lennon was involved in the build-up to Movsisyan’s goal in the first half.
- Sebastian Saucedo made his first appearance since returning from his loan stint in Mexico with Veracruz. Saucedo started the match and played 80 spirited minutes in the wide midfield position.
- Rookie defender Justin Schmidt made his second consecutive start for RSL after playing 90 minutes in a highly rated debut at Chicago on March 11.
- Yura Movsisyan opened his scoring account for 2017 with his headed effort in the 18th minute while Albert Rusnak notched his first assist in an RSL shirt, supplying the cross to Movsisyan.
Match: Real Salt Lake vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
Date: March 18, 2017
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Attendance: 20,348
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 76 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 0 1
Los Angeles Galaxy 0 2 2
RSL – Yura Movsisyan (Albert Rusnák) 18’
LA – David Romney (Romain Alessendrini) 70’
LA – Emmanuel Boateng (Romain Alessandrini) 74’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Justin Schmidt, Chris Schuler, Demar Phillips (Luis Silva 79’); Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mullholand Albert Rusnák; Sebastian Saucedo (Ricardo Velazco 81’), Yura Movsisyan (Chad Barrett 66’) Brooks Lennon
Subs not used: Matt VanOekel, Omar Holness, Aaron Maund, Sunday Stephen, Chris Wingert
Los Angeles Galaxy: (4-5-1): Clement Diop; David Romney, Bradley Diallo, Daniel Steres, Rafael Garcia (Nathan Smith 58’); Joao Pedro, Jermaine Jones, Romain Alessandrini (Bagio Husidic 91+’), Sebastian Lleget, Emmanuel Boateng; Jose Villareal (Jack McBean 58’)
Subs not used: Jon Kempin, Hugo Arellano, Ariel Lassiter, Jaime Villarreal
Stats Summary: RSL / LA
Shots: 5 / 8
Shots on Goal: 3 / 4
Saves: 2 / 2
Corner Kicks: 5 / 6
Fouls: 10 / 18
Offside: 4 / 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL – Luke Mulholland (caution) 34’
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (caution) 34’
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (second caution; ejection) 43’
LA – Romain Alessandrini (caution) 45+’
RSL – Albert Rusnák (caution) 61’
LA – Nathan Smith (caution) 89’
RSL – Chris Schuler (caution) 90’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Sorin Stoica
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Jeff Muschik
4th Official: Baboucarr Jallow
