Real Salt Lake 2 vs 1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
_September 22, 2023; America First Field; Sandy, Utah
_Real Salt Lake (12-11-7, 43 points; 5th West) vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC (11-10-8, 41 points; 6th West)
What You Missed: Vancouver opened the scoring in the 17th minute when unmarked Brian White headed in a corner kick. After trailing at the half, RSL quickly found an equalizer in the 47th minute via a long-range free kick from **Brayan Vera**. The left-footed shot took a bounce just in front of the keeper at the near post to glide in, Vera’s second goal of the season, both coming from a free kick. Captain **Justen Glad** put his body on the line to take the lead in the 65th minute, heading in a corner while drawing contact to his face from a Vancouver defender. The Claret-and-Cobalt held out for the remainder of the match, narrowly escaping a potential penalty after a VAR review to secure the much-needed three points.
Man of the Match: Homegrown Justen Glad put in a heroic 90-plus-minute performance on the RSL backline to lift RSL past the Whitecaps in the Western Conference standings. Glad was clutch in defense, sniffing out potential goal-threatening passes and covering lots of ground to keep the Whitecaps strikers in check. Glad also scored a go-ahead gutsy goal in the 65th to cap the comeback win. Glad extends his season career-high goal tally to five, reaching a benchmark he set himself at the beginning of the season.
Telling Stats: RSL has earned points in 14 out of the 16 matches against Vancouver in Sandy, winning nine and drawing five matches, with only two losses. RSL began the 2023 season against Vancouver in similar fashion to tonight, coming back from a goal behind to win 2-1, including a goal from J-Glad. It is the fifth time across all competitions this year that RSL has come back after trailing during a match to win. At the final whistle, RSL stands tied on points with fourth-place Houston Dynamo, two points ahead of sixth-place Vancouver and four points ahead of ninth-place FC Dallas.
What’s Next?: RSL travels to the City of Angels to take on defending MLS Cup Champions LAFC next Sunday, October 1 at 6:00 p.m. MT. RSL will then return to America First Field the following Saturday, October 7 to face Sporting Kansas City at 7:30 p.m. MT for the last regular season home match of the year.
