REAL SALT LAKE FALLS LATE TO LAFC 2-1
Kreilach Notches First of 2019 As RSL Falls in Stoppage Time in Physical Affair in Southern California
LOS ANGELES (Saturday, March 23, 2019) – Real Salt Lake (1-2-1, 4 points) fell to Western Conference rival LAFC 2-1 on Saturday night at Banc of California Stadium to cap a two-match road stretch.
The first half began physical almost immediately with both teams trading tough fouls early on. RSL did well to absorb the pressure from LAFC with GK Nick Rimando saving the host’s best chance of the first stanza, pawing away Carlos Vela’s freekick in the 29th minute. RSL made the breakthrough in the 34th minute when MF Damir Kreilach calmly put away a penalty kick after MF Sebastian Saucedo drew the foul inside the box. LAFC quickly equalized through Diego Rossi when he slammed home a shot from 10 yards to draw the match level in the 40th minute.
RSL thought it had taken the lead in the 50th minute when Saucedo sent a wonderful curling shot into the bottom corner of the net before the referee judged him to be offside on the initial deflection that led to the shot. From then LAFC applied steady pressure to RSL, earning several chances to make the breakthrough but the RSL defense stood firm.
In the 84th minute RSL went down to 10 men when MF Justin Portillo received a red card in his MLS debut. LAFC made the breakthrough in the first minute of stoppage time when defender Walker Zimmerman unleashed a shot from outside the box that curled away from Rimando.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake will return home from a two-match road trip to host FC Dallas on March 30 at Rio Tinto Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. MT.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
RSL: Damir Kreilach (PK), 34th minute: RSL midfielder Sebastian Saucedo drew the penalty after being brought down inside the area by Latif Blessing. Kreilach stepped up and easily dispatched the penalty kick, sending Tyler Miller to Kreilach’s left as the ball found the bottom right corner.
LAFC: Diego Rossi, 40th minute: A deflected through ball trickled into the path of Rossi who reacted just a split-second quicker than the RSL defense, slamming the ball into the back of the net.
LAFC: Walker Zimmerman (Niko Hamalainen), 92nd minute: Zimmerman fielded a ball from just outside the penalty area with time to set up a shot from distance. Zimmerman unleashed a shot that took a deflection to curl away from RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando into the top corner.
KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS:
RSL: Nick Rimando, 29th minute: After earning a freekick 25 yards from goal, Carlos Vela stepped up to the freekick, curling one towards the top corner. Rimando read the shot all the way, diving to his left to tip the ball over the crossbar.
NOTES:
- RSL were without six players due to international duty and suspension. FWs Corey Baird (U.S.), Julian Vazquez (Mexico U-18) and Sam Johnson (Liberia) and MF Albert Rusnák (Slovakia) all missed the LAFC match while away on international duty. DF Marcelo Silva and MF Jefferson Savarino both missed the match due to red card suspension from the club’s visit to D.C. United.
- RSL is starting six products of the club’s Academy – Aaron Herrera, Erik Holt, Brooks Lennon, Sebastian Saucedo, Tate Schmitt and Donny Toia. It is the most Academy products to start a match for one club in MLS history, breaking the previous record of five, originally set by RSL last season. Holt and Schmitt both made their MLS debuts in the match. Toia made his first start for RSL against LAFC.
- MFs Justin Portillo and Luis Arriaga made their Major League Soccer debuts, coming on as substitutes in the second half.
- DF Justen Glad (toe), DF Tony Beltran (knee) and FW Joao Plata (ankle) were out of action due to injury.
Match: Real Salt Lake at LAFC
Date: March 23, 2019
Venue: Banc of California Stadium; Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 22,023
Weather: Cloudy and 40 degrees
Scoring Summary:1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 0 1
LAFC 1 1 2
RSL: Damir Kreilach (PK) 34’
LAFC: Diego Rossi 40’
LAFC: Walker Zimmerman (Niko Hamalainen) 90’+2
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Aaron Herrera, Nedum Onuoha, Erik Holt, Donny Toia (Luis Arriaga, 90’+3); Kyle Beckerman, Everton Luiz; Brooks Lennon, Damir Kreilach, Sebastian Saucedo (Nick Besler, 68’); Tate Schmitt (Justin Portillo, 75’)
Subs not used:Andrew Putna, Adam Henley, Pablo Ruiz, Luke Mulholland
LAFC: (4-3-3): Tyler Miller; Steven Beitashour, Walker Zimmerman, Eddie Segura, Jordan Harvey (Niko Hamalainen, 81’); André Horta(Adrien Pérez 78’), Eduard Atuesta, Latif Blessing; Carlos Vela, Adama Diomande, Diego Rossi
Subs not used: Pablo Sisniega, Dejan Jakovic, Danilo Silva, Shaft Brewer, Javier Pérez
Stats Summary: LAFC / RSL
Shots: 19 / 3
Shots on Goal: 7 / 1
Saves: 0 / 5
Corner Kicks: 11 / 0
Fouls: 18 / 16
Offside: 0 / 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL – Everton Luiz (caution) 4’
LAFC – Jordan Harvey (caution) 18’
LAFC – André Horta (caution) 22’
RSL – Sebastian Saucedo (caution) 24’
RSL – Kyle Beckerman (caution) 55’
RSL – Damir Kreilach (caution) 79’
RSL – Justin Portillo (ejection) 84’
RSL – Aaron Herrera (caution) 90’+3
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Jeffery Greeson, Felisha Mariscal
4th Official: Baldomero Toldeo
VAR: Alex Chilowicz
