Real Salt Lake Suffers Defeat To LAFC

SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake suffered a 2-0 defeat to LAFC at Banc of California Stadium on Sunday evening and remains in the sixth position in the Western Conference.

Manager Pablo Mastroeni was forced into multiple changes following suspensions to Justen Glad and Jasper Löffelsend due to yellow card accumulation. Bryan Oviedo received his first start, Johan Kappelhof, and Rubio Rubin also received starts.

Despite the changes, RSL entered the fixture having most recently won at home against Minnesota United at home. LAFC, however, entered the game having lost the past three games.

😠😠😠😠😠😠
😠😠😠🙂😄 pic.twitter.com/T1K06J3NJK

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 5, 2022

As expected, the opening moments were dominated by LAFC as the home team not only dominated the time of possession but also created a lot of goal-scoring opportunities.

At the half, LAFC failed to capitalize on their opportunities and the score remained at 0-0.

The second half began in a similar fashion to the first, with LAFC dominating all facets of the game. However, RSL looked to be more determined to score on the counterattack.

LAFC Finds The Breakthrough

Unfortunately, the persistent LAFC attack paid off for the hosts when defender Ryan Hollingshead scored in the 49th minute. The goal came following a collision with MacMath and Marcelo Silva in the air, leaving Hollingshead with an open net to score.

The top-scoring defender in @MLS strikes again. 👨#LAFCvRSL pic.twitter.com/jL6famQWSQ

— LAFC (@LAFC) September 5, 2022

LAFC scored a second when Carlos Vela, who came off the bench in the 58th minute, played Cristian Arango in on goal who faked a shot, sending Zac MacMath the wrong way before passing the ball into the back of the net for the games second goal.

RSL then came within inches of scoring when Justin Meram’s cross found the head of Anderson Julio whose header was saved on the goalline, denying the visitors of any hope of a comeback.

MacMath then conceded a penalty kick but saved Vela’s attempt in stoppage time.

LAFC prevailed with a dominant 2-0 victory at home to win its first game in four games.

With the loss, RSL remains in the sixth position in the Western Conference while LAFC extends its lead atop the Western Conference to nine points. LAFC also regains the Supporters Shield race holding a one-point advantage over Eastern Conference rivals Philadelphia Union.

Next Real Salt Lake Match

Following a week that included three games in eight days, Real Salt Lake will now recover and will return home in six days’ time for an encounter with D.C. United.

The match will be available to stream for free via the KSL Sports and KSL 5 TV apps or on KSL Sports dot com.