SANDY, Utah (Sunday, July 17, 2022) – Real Salt Lake (9-6-6, 33 points) pumps out three goals in the second half to soundly defeat Sporting Kansas City 3-0 in front of its 10th consecutive sellout crowd this season. Justin Glad, Jefferson Savarino, and Marcelo Silva’s return to the starting lineup was the boost the Club needed to outpace its bitter Western Conference rival. The Claret-and-Cobalt upped their record to 7-0-3 at home this season and has now won 12 of 13 games following a loss under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni.
Real Salt Lake controlled a majority of the possession and pace throughout the first half. The Claret-and-Cobalt’s best chance of the first 45 minutes came when Sergio Cordova and Savarino put up back-to-back shots on target in the 10th minute, forcing goalkeeper John Pulskamp to make point blank and fingertip saves to keep RSL from finding the back of the net. In the 40th minute Savarino found himself on a breakaway, but his shot fell directly into the hands of the Sporting keeper.
On the defensive end, with the return of Glad, the backline limited Sporting to just one shot on target, a slow roller which Zac MacMath easily secured. Despite nearly controlling every statistical category, Real Salt Lake was unable to find the back of the net and the two sides remained deadlocked at 0-0.
Real Salt Lake made quick work in the second half, finding the break-through goal in the 50th minute when Andrew Brody serviced a cross onto the head of a flying Cordova for the 1-0 lead. Five minutes later Cordova nearly doubled the team’s lead, but his jumping header fell just wide of the left post.
In the 62nd minute Sporting Kansas City was reduced to 10 men when Roger Espinoza was shown a red card for a hard foul on midfielder Jasper Löffelsend. Real Salt Lake were quick to take advantage with Pablo Ruiz scoring only one minute later to take the 2-0 lead. In the 71st minute the Claret-and-Cobalt scored again when Aaron Herrera found Justin Meram breaking out along the wing, and Meram quickly found Savarino streaking to the front of the net and Savarino buried the redirection in the back of the net to give the Club the 3-0 lead. Real Salt Lake kept the pressure on Sporting right up to the final whistle as substitute Anderson Julio had several runs on the keeper.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake will remain at Rio Tinto Stadium, hosting FC Dallas on Saturday, July 23 at 8:00 p.m. MT for the Club’s second fireworks night of this season.
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY:
RSL: Sergio Cordova (Andrew Brody, Maikel Chang) 50th minute: Maikel Chang received a pass from Justin Meram at the top of the of the 18-yard-box, opening his body up to find Brody sprinting towards the endline. Brody was able to run onto the short pass, hitting a cross to Cordova who projected himself through the air to head his shot through the hands of John Pulskamp.
RSL: Pablo Ruiz (Jefferson Savarino, Justin Meram) 64th minute: Meram received the ball at the top of the 18-yard-box, hitting a one-touch pass to Savarino who guided the ball on to Ruiz, and Pablo neatly tucked his shot into the right side of the frame.
RSL: Jefferson Savarino (Justin Meram, Aaron Herrera) 71st minute: Herrera found Meram breaking out along the left wing and Meram delivered a strike to Savarino as he was streaking up the center of the box to give the Club the finishing goal of the match.
NOTES:
- Zack Farnsworth (right ankle), Bobby Wood (abductor), Scott Caldwell (health and safety protocols) and Damir Kreilach (back) were unavailable due to injury.
- Defender Marcelo Silva recorded his 100th appearance in both Major League Soccer and with Real Salt Lake
- Real Salt Lake fans set a Club record with its tenth consecutive sellout at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Match: Real Salt Lake vs Sporting Kansas City
Date: July 17, 2022
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Weather: Overcast and 90
Attendance: 20,132
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 3 0
Sporting Kansa City 0 0 0
RSL: Sergio Cordova (Andrew Brody, Maikel Chang) 50’
RSL: Pablo Ruiz (Jefferson Savarino, Justin Meram) 64’
RSL: Jefferson Savarino (Justin Meram, Aaron Herrera) 71’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Zac MacMath; Aaron Herrera, Justen Glad (Erik Holt 82’), Marcelo Silva, Andrew Brody; Maikel Chang, Pablo Ruiz, Jasper Löffelsend (Nick Besler 72’), Justin Meram (Bode Hidalgo 87’); Jefferson Savarino (Diego Luna 82’), Sergio Cordova (Anderson Julio 72’)
Subs not used: Tomas Gomez, Johan Kappelhof, Rubio Rubin
Sporting Kansas City (4-3-3): John Pulskamp; Robert Voloder, Nicolas Isimat, Logan Ndenbe, Kayden Pierre; Uri Rosell (Felipe Hernandez 57’), Roger Espinoza, Remi Walter; Johnny Russell (Cam Duke 79’),Daniel Salloi, Marinos Tzionis (Khiry Shelton 66’)
Subs not used: Ben Sweat, Jake Davis, Kendall McIntosh, William Agada, Kaveh Rad
Stats Summary: RSL / SKC
Shots: 19 / 6
Shots on Goal: 10 / 1
Saves: 1 / 7
Corner Kicks: 5 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
SKC: Roger Espinoza (caution) 24’
RSL: Justen Glad (caution) 34’
RSL: Sergio Cordova (caution) 50’
SKC: Roger Espinoza (ejection) 62’
SKC: Nicolas Isimat (caution) 85'
RSL: Anderson Julio (caution) 90+3’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Mike Rottersman, Gjovalin Bori
4th Official: Alex Chilowicz
VAR: Rosendo Mendoza
