Sandy, Utah (Saturday July 22, 2017) – Real Salt Lake (7-12-3, 24 points) drew with Western Conference rivals Sporting Kansas City 1-1, in what ended as a classic and palpable RSL-SKC rivalry.
RSL change the face of the game when FW Luis Silva notched his first league goal in a Real Salt Lake shirt when he tucked home a beautiful side footed effort for the game’s first goal in the 43rd minute. FW Joao Plata played provider on Silva’s goal while DF Danilo Acosta played the entry ball into Plata for his second assist in as many outings.
Halftime brought a quick start as Sporting pressured the RSL backline right out of the gate and found their equalizer in the 59th minute. SKC midfielder Benny Feilhaber was brought down in the box by RSL’s newest signing DF Marcelo Silva to draw the penalty. Feilhaber then went on to dispatch the spot kick and his team’s equalizer.
The woodwork played an immense role for the visiting side and kept RSL from taking all three points late with 20 minutes to play when Silva again found himself in with a chance on goal but his effort ricocheted off both uprights before his second effort was slammed off the crossbar.
The rest of the match brought physical play from both sides as three yellow cards were handed out from Sporting’s equalizer on. Goalkeepers on both sides were called upon to be the difference makers in the second 45 as GK Nick Rimando was called upon on multiple occasions to make the big save for the Claret-and-Cobalt. For SKC Tim Melia provided the difference for the visitors as he made two key saves in the final 15 minutes to preserve the road point as he withstood 20 shots put forth by RSL on the night.
UP NEXT: In the second of three straight games at Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL will welcome Columbus Crew SC to the Wasatch Front for the only meeting between the two sides in 2017 (6:00 pm MST kickoff). Last season RSL and the Crew played to a thrilling 4-3 scoreline at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus as Luke Mulholland, Jordan Allen and Joao Plata all notched goals for RSL before ultimately falling to the Black and Gold.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
RSL – Luis Silva (Joao Plata, Danilo Acosta), 43rd minute: A beautiful ball played to Joao Plata by Danilo Acosta sent Plata streaking down the left side looking for a cross. Plata elected to play a low ball across the 18-yard-box that found Luis Silva who finished with a first time shot into the far side netting from 18 yards.
SKC – Benny Feilhaber (Penalty), 59th minute: Feilhaber drew the penalty as he tried to skip by RSL defender Marcelo Silva forcing him to lunge for the ball. Feilhaber lined up against Nick Rimando and buried the shot, sending the RSL goalkeeper the wrong way for the equalizer.
KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS:
RSL – Marcelo Silva, 38th minute: A giveaway at midfield from RSL gifted SKC forward Diego Rubio a chance at goal but before he could get a shot off Silva was there with a sliding challenge to knock the ball away for a corner kick.
RSL – Justen Glad, 44th minute: After slipping in the box on the first chance, Glad recovered well to block Latif Blessing’s second chance on the top of the six-yard box.
SKC – Tim Melia, 75th minute: A darting effort from RSL forward Joao Plata forced Melia off his line to close down the angle on the cross. Melia slid well to deny Plata’s effort across the box.
RSL – Nick Rimando, 85th minute: A curling effort from SKC midfielder Benny Feilhaber forced Rimando into a save at his far post diving full stretch to his left to deny Feilhaber his second goal of the night.
NOTES:
- Marcelo Silva made his MLS debut for RSL after playing 58 minutes against Manchester United in an international friendly on Monday.
- Luis Silva scored his first MLS goal in an RSL shirt with his first half-finish. It was his 21st career MLS goal after previously scoring for Toronto FC and D.C. United in his seven MLS seasons. Prior to his goal, RSL defender Danilo Acosta earned his second assist in as many games.
- With regular captain Kyle Beckerman out due to suspension, RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando assumed the armband for the match against Kansas City.
Match: Real Salt Lake vs Sporting Kansas City
Date: July 22, 2017
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah
Attendance: 19,316
Weather: Cloudy and 91 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 0 1
Sporting Kansas City 0 1 1
RSL – Luis Silva (Joao Plata, Danilo Acosta) 43’
SKC – Benny Feilhaber (PK) 59’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Danilo Acosta; Sunny (Brooks Lennon, 72’), Luke Mulholland; Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnák, Joao Plata; Luis Silva
Subs not used: Lalo Fernandez, Aaron Maund, Chris Schuler, Sebastian Saucedo, Yura Movsisyan, Chris Wingert
Sporting Kansas City: (4-2-3-1): Tim Melia; Saad Abdul-Salaam, Kevin Ellis, Erik Palmer-Brown, Seth Sinovic; Ilie Sanchez, Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber, Gerso Fernandes (Daniel Salloi, 80’); Diego Rubio
Subs not used: Andrew Dykstra, Amer Didic, Dom Dwyer, Jimmy Medranda, Soni Mustivar, Tyler Pasher
Stats Summary: RSL/SKC
Shots: 20 / 9
Shots on Goal: 6 / 3
Saves: 2 / 5
Corner Kicks: 6 / 1
Fouls: 15 / 9
Offside: 3 / 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
SKC – Roger Espinoza (caution) 40’
SKC – Ilie Sanchez (caution) 47’
RSL – Sunny (caution) 53’
RSL – Danilo Acosta (caution) 56’
RSL – Tony Beltran (caution) 71’
SKC – Gerso Fernandes (caution) 77’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistant Referees: Jason White, Apolinar Mariscal
4th Official: Daniel Radford
