CARSON, California (Sunday, April 28, 2019) – Real Salt Lake (3-5-1, 10 points) fell narrowly to its Western Conference rival LA Galaxy 2-1 on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.
RSL found its lone goal of the match from DF Donny Toia who scored his first in an RSL uniform in the 64th minute.
In the first half, LA got out in front in the 16th minute on a ball played through the RSL defense. Chris Pontius got on the end of it and connected with Uriel Antuna for the goal to put the Galaxy up 1-0. LA put four more shots on goal before halftime, but GK AndrewPutna came up with the saves to keep the score at 1-0 going into halftime.
In the 55th minute, MF Damir Kreilach nearly equalized on a shot from outside the box. FW Corey Baird played the ball across the middle and after it was dummied through by FW Jefferson Savarino, Kreilach thundered a right-footed shot that hit off the crossbar and was cleared by LA. RSL nearly found the go-ahead goal through Kreilach again as his shot was blocked in the 77th minute right outside the area. The Galaxy found its second goal of the match during almost the same sequence when Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first-time effort from inside the penalty area found the back of the net from the counter attack.
RSL then went in search of the equalizer that never came as the Utah side fell to LA Galaxy 2-1 on the road.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake returns home to host the Portland Timbers on Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
LA: Uriel Antuna (Chris Pontius, Diego Polenta), 16th minute – On the opening goal, Diego Polenta carried the ball up the middle and played it wide to Chris Pontius in behind the defense. Pontius centered to Uriel Antuna for a first-time goal from the edge of the six-yard box for a 1-0 lead.
RSL: Donny Toia, 64th minute – Jefferson Savarino played the ball wide to Aaron Herrera attacking up the right side. Herrera fired a shot that was saved by LA goalkeeper David Bingham, but the rebound spilled to Donny Toia at the far post and he put away his first goal of the season to even it up at 1-1.
LA: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sebastian Lletget), 78th minute: A ball played low into the box from Lletget found the path of Ibrahimovic who did well to hook the ball into the far corner of the net with a first-time shot.
NOTES:
- DF Donny Toia notched his first goal for RSL in the match against the Galaxy, scoring in the 64th minute of the match to draw level on the road.
- GK Nick Rimando (knee), DF Marcelo Silva (hamstring), DF Erik Holt (ankle) and MF Everton Luiz (knee) missed the match due to injury.
Match: Real Salt Lake at LA Galaxy
Date: April 28, 2019
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, California
Attendance: 20,615
Weather: Parlty Cloudy and 67
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1
LA Galaxy 1 1 2
LA: Uriel Antuna (Chris Pontius, Diego Polenta) 16’
RSL: Donny Toia 64’
LA: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sebastian Lletget) 78’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Andrew Putna; Aaron Herrera, Justen Glad, Nedum Onuoha, Donny Toia (Joao Plata, 84’); Kyle Beckerman, Damir Kreilach (Brooks Lennon, 90’+1); Jefferson Savarino, Corey Baird; Sam Johnson (Sebastian Saucedo 71’)
Subs not used: David Ochoa, Tony Beltran, Nick Besler, Justin Portillo
LA Galaxy: (4-2-3-1): David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher (Giancarlo Gonzalez, 88’), Daniel Steres, Diego Polenta, Diedie Traore Jonathan dos Santos, Joe Corona (Servando Carrasco, 84’); Chris Pontius, Sebastian Lletget, Uriel Antuna (Emmanuel Boateng, 74’); Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Subs not used: Matt Lampson, Jorgen Skjelvik, Juninho, Emil Cuello
Stats Summary: LA / RSL
Shots: 11 / 22
Shots on Goal: 6 / 7
Saves: 6 / 4
Corner Kicks: 5 / 6
Fouls: 15 / 8
Offside: 3 / 5
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Damir Kreilach (caution) 32’
LA: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (caution) 60’
LA: Diego Polenta (caution) 82’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Joseph Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Adam Garner, Eduardo Mariscal
4th Official: Victor Rivas
VAR: Kevin Stott
