Commerce City, CO (Saturday, April 15, 2017) – Real Salt Lake (2-3-2, 8pts) came from a goal down in the final five minutes with goals from FW Yura Movsisyan and MF Brooks Lennon to top the Colorado Rapids 2-1 Saturday night at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
In a back-and-forth first half, Colorado broke the deadlock through a Kevin Doyle header in the 19th minute. RSL and the Rapids went into halftime with that 1-0 score line thanks to several key saves from GK Nick Rimando.
The second half didn’t see many real chances for either side until the final ten minutes of the match. Movsisyan buried an 85th minute penalty after Rapids defender Jared Watts was called and then sent off for a handball that denied DF Chris Wingert a goal.
Just three minutes later the 19-year-old Lennon bagged his first goal in an RSL shirt as he cut in and launched a rocket into the bottom corner of Zac MacMath’s net for the game-winning goal.
With the win, RSL stays undefeated under Head Coach Mike Petke while scoring five goals in his two matches at the helm.
UP NEXT: RSL returns to Rio Tinto Stadium to take on Atlanta United in a cross-conference matchup on April 22 (7:30 p.m. MT kickoff). This will be the first and only meeting of the 2017 regular season between the two sides.
SCORING RUNDOWN:
COL – Kevin Doyle (Marlon Hairston, Bismark Boateng), 29th minute: Wide play from the Rapids saw midfielder Marlon Hairston streaking down the sideline before he played a perfectly-weighted ball into the center of the box. Kevin Doyle’s splitting run between two RSL defenders saw him get just enough behind his header to beat RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando.
RSL – Yura Movsisyan (Penalty), 85th minute: An RSL free kick saw a Luis Silva header crash against the crossbar and the follow up effort from Chris Wingert struck Rapids defender Jared Watts in the arm, sending him off. Movsisyan buried the penalty into the bottom left corner.
RSL – Brooks Lennon (Demar Phillips), 88th minute: Lennon received the ball in a wide position and cut into the center of the field. The youngster looked up and drove the ball through traffic from 25 yards and found the bottom corner of the net.
KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS:
RSL – Nick Rimando, 5th minute: A misplay in the back from RSL defender Chris Schuler saw Rapids striker Kevin Doyle get in on a breakaway. The RSL goalkeeper got his left foot to Doyle’s attempt to turn the ball around the post for a corner kick.
RSL – Chris Wingert, 13th minute: Rapids striker Kevin Doyle did well to create space just inside the box near the end-line as he looked to cross the ball across the box. Wingert stepped in for a perfectly-timed tackle to win the ball for an RSL counter attack.
COL – Zac MacMath, 38th minute: Good combination play at the corner of the box from RSL midfielders Brooks Lennon and Albert Rusnak gave RSL striker Yura Movsisyan space for a shot at the top of the area. Movsisyan lined up a strike but the shot flew straight into the hands of MacMath.
COL – Jared Watts, 66th minute: RSL midfielder Brooks Lennon attempted to play a through ball into the top of the six yard box to Yura Movsisyan but Watts read the ball well and cleared for a throw in.
RSL – Nick Rimando, 92nd minute: A scrum in the RSL penalty area saw a thunderous strike from Doyle shot straight at Rimando. Rimando stayed big and pawed the ball away.
NOTES:
- RSL ended Colorado’s 19-game regular season home unbeaten streak with the victory. Salt Lake has now walked away with ten points in the last six games at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
- RSL snapped an eight game losing streak on the road with the 2-1 win against the Rapids. The last time RSL won on the road was a 2-1 triumph over the Philadelphia Union July 31, 2016.
- With the start RSL midfielder Luke Mulholland made his 100th MLS appearance with all appearances coming in an RSL shirt.
- Midfielder Brooks Lennon scored his first goal for RSL in the 88th minute, the eventual winner against the Rapids.
Match: Real Salt Lake at Colorado Rapids
Date: April 15, 2017
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colorado
Attendance: 15,087
Weather: Cloudy and 68 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 2 2
Colorado Rapids 1 0 1
COL – Kevin Doyle (Marlon Hairston, Bismark Boateng) 29’
RSL – Yura Movsisyan (PK) 85’
RSL – Brooks Lennon (Demar Phillips) 88’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Demar Phillips, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Danilo Acosta; Luke Mulholland (Luis Silva 64’), Kyle Beckerman; Brooks Lennon, Albert Rusnák (Omar Holness 93+’), Sebastian Saucedo (Ricardo Velazco 71’); Yura Movsisyan.
Subs not used: Matt VanOekel, Justin Schmidt, Reagan Dunk, Jose Hernandez
Colorado Rapids: (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Eric Miller, Kortne Ford, Jared Watts, Mekeil Williams; Micheal Azira, Bismark Boateng (Mohammed Saeid 32’); Marlon Hairston (Joshua Gatt 80’), Dillon Powers, Dominique Badji (Bobby Burling 86’); Kevin Doyle.
Subs not used: John Berner, Sam Hamilton, Caleb Calvert, Shkelzen Gashi
Stats Summary: COL/ RSL
Shots: 7 / 10
Shots on Goal: 3 / 3
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 6 / 4
Fouls: 13 / 15
Offside: 4 / 0
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL – Chris Wingert (caution) 52’
COL – Mekeil Williams (caution) 84’
COL – Jared Watts (ejection) 85’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Kermit Quisenberry, Logan Brown
4th Official: Daniel Radford
