VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Sat., September 9, 2017) – Real Salt Lake (10-14-5, 35 points, 8th West) fell 3-2 at B.C. Place against the Whitecaps Saturday night. Despite goals from outside backs Chris Wingert – the second of his MLS career, and Tony Beltran, his first-ever strike in MLS regular-season play – RSL remains in eighth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
The Whitecaps opened the scoring in the game’s 29th minute, with Vancouver’s Cristian Techera slamming home a cross from the right by Jake Nerwinski to put the home side up 1-0. Eight minutes later, RSL DF Chris Wingert – now in his 10thRSL season – hit a curling blast from the left side that eluded Yura Movsisyan and glanced off the hands of Vancouver GK David Ousted for the equalizer.
Vancouver took control of the game with a pair of goals early in the second half, retaking the lead off a redirected free kick, as Kendall Waston slammed home a loose ball for a 2-1 lead in the 52nd minute. Just 12 minutes later, Yordy Reyna added what proved to be the eventual game-winner.
RSL DF Tony Beltran pulled the Claret-and-Cobalt back to within one in the 82ndminute, taking a pass into the box from Jefferson Savarino and cutting back to his left foot, hitting a low liner inside the post and past Ousted, who was superb on the night with six saves, including denials of attempts from Justen Glad and David Horst, among others. Beltran’s goal was his first in 241 career MLS reg. season contests, although the RSL veteran of more than 20,000+ minutes played has found the back of the net in RSL’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup history.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake welcomes Portland Timbers to Rio Tinto Stadium next Saturday, September 16 (7:30 pm MT kickoff) in a match critical to RSL’s postseason aspirations. RSL defeated Portland 4-1 back on July 19, while Head Coach Mike Petke’s team looks to improve on its 6-4-4 home mark with a win against the Timbers.
NOTES:
- RSL remains one point behind San Jose, two points behind Dallas and three points behind Houston as the four clubs compete for the final pair of Western Conference spots in the race to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Three of RSL’s remaining five games are at home, including back-to-back Rio Tinto Stadium contests each of the next two Saturdays against Portland and Seattle; RSL then hits the road at LA Galaxy and Colorado prior to the home regular-season finale on Sunday, October 22 in Sandy.
Match: Real Salt Lake at Vancouver Whitecaps
Date: September 9, 2017
Venue: B.C. Place; Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Attendance: 20,783
Weather: Clear and 64 degrees
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Vancouver Whitecaps 1 2 3
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
VAN – Cristan Techera (Nerwinski, Ibini) – 29’
RSL – Chris Wingert (Sunny) – 37’
VAN – Kendall Waston – 52’
VAN – Yordy Reyna (Ibini, Nerwinski) 64’
RSL – Tony Beltran (Savarino) 83’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, David Horst, Justen Glad, Chris Wingert (Brooks Lennon 76’); Kyle Beckerman, Sunday Stephen (Luke Mulholland 56’); Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnák, Joao Plata; Yura Movsisyan (Luis Silva 67’)
Subs not used: Matt VanOekel, Marcelo Silva, Justin Schmidt, Sebastian Saucedo
Vancouver Whitecaps: (4-2-3-1): David Ousted; Jacob Nerwinski, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Tony Tchani, Aly Ghazal; Cristian Techera (Brek Shea 69’), Yordy Reyna (Nicolas Mezquida 84’), Bernie Ibini-Isel (Alphonso Davies 75’); Freddy Montero
Subs not used: Stefan Marinovic, Marcel de Jong, Andrew Jacobson, Erik Hurtado
Stats Summary: VAN/RSL
Shots: 11 / 18
Shots on Goal: 3 / 8
Saves: 6 / 0
Corner Kicks: 2 / 9
Fouls: 7 / 9
Offside: 2 / 1
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
VAN – Tim Parker (caution) 21’
VAN – Jacob Nerwinski (caution) 57’
RSL – Joao Plata (caution) 91+’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Apolinar Mariscal
4th Official: Kevin Stott
