TUCSON, Arizona (Saturday, February 3, 2017) – Real Salt Lake scored three second-half goals to come from behind and notch a 3-1 win over the LA Galaxy in the first match of the preseason against an MLS opponent on Saturday. With a boisterous crowd on hand at Kino Stadium in Tucson, Arizona, RSL got goals from MF Sebastian Saucedo, MF Nick Besler and MF Sebastian Velasquez to earn the win as Head Coach Mike Petke split his squad in two, with the majority of the players logging 45 minutes.
Scoring opened in the 32nd minute when the Galaxy snared a goal off a header from Michael Ciani off a Sebastian Lletget free kick, sneaking his ball under the glove of Rimando to make it 1-0.
Throughout the first half, there were several opportunities for both sides, highlighted by a pair of chances from FW Joao Plata. In the 18th minute, he fought off the LA defense and pushed into space before firing a shot that was saved by goalkeeper David Bingham. Later in the 29th minute, he outran the defense before cutting from right-to-left and firing a left-footed shot that hit off the far post before being cleared by the Galaxy and RSL went into the brief break trailing 1-0.
In the second half, Saucedo took advantage of a Galaxy miscue to knot the score in the 51st minute. After RSL earned a penalty kick, Saucedo converted, ripping a shot to the right side while the keeper dove in the opposite direction, evening the match at 1-1.
RSL then grabbed the lead in the 57th minute when Besler hit home a rebound off a corner kick. After the first effort by DF David Horst was saved by Bryan Sylvestre, Besler hammered in the putback with a right-footed shot to make it 2-1.
The final goal came on a speedy buildup up the right side as DF Aaron Herrera led FW Corey Baird into the box. He then played it through to Velasquez, who hit a first-time shot into the net for the final 3-1 tally.
Next up for RSL is the second and final match of the Tucson leg of preseason on Wednesday against the San Jose Earthquakes. The match kicks off at 10:30 a.m. MT with a live stream at RSL.com.
REAL SALT LAKE 3-1 LA GALAXY
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2017
Tucson, Arizona
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 3 3
LA Galaxy 1 0 1
Scoring Summary:
LA: Michael Ciani () 32’
RSL: Sebastian Saucedo (PK) 51’
RSL: Nick Besler 58’
RSL: Sebastian Velasquez (Corey Baird, Aaron Herrera) 77’
Discipline Summary:
LA: Perry Kitchen (Caution) 11’
LA: Hugo Arrellano (Caution) 62’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake: Nick Rimando; Adam Henley, Justen Glad, Danny Acosta, Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mulholland; Brooks Lennon, Jose Hernandez, Joao Plata; Luis Silva.
Second Half: Connor Sparrow; Aaron Herrera, Shawn Barry, David Horst, David Diosa (Glademir Mendoza 82’); Sunny (Justin Portillo 84’), Nick Besler; Corey Baird, Sebastian Velasquez, Sebastian Saucedo; Alfredo Ortuno (Ricky Lopez-Espin 71’)
LA Galaxy: David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher, Jorgen Skjelvik, Daniel Steres, Ashley Cole; Perry Kitchen, Jonathan dos Santos; Romain Alessandrini, Giovani dos Santos, Ema Boateng; Ola Kamara
Second 30 minutes: Brian Sylvestre; Emrah Klimenta, Dave Romney, Michael Ciani, Hugo Arellano; Sebastian Lletget, Baggio Husidic, Servando Carrasco; Chris Pontius; Ulysses Llanez, Efrain Alvarez
Third 30 minutes: Justin Vom Steeg; Nate Shultz, Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Jefrey Payeras, Adrian Vera; Miguel Aguilar, João Pedro, Alex Mendez, Julian Buscher; Justin Dhillon, Ethan Zubak
