RSL played an absolutely insane Reserve match down at America First Field on Wednesday morning, tying the Houston Dynamo Reserves 5-5 – yeah, you read that right, there were 10 total goals – in the club’s Reserve League finale.
A couple of quick observations from the match:
Big game for the front line
Starting forwards Emiliano Bonfigli and Justin Braun both had huge games against the Dynamo, with Bonfigli notching a hat trick and Braun registering three assists on Wednesday morning.
Bonfigli scored in the 11th, 60th and 69th minutes. His second goal was his finest, with the Argentine striker running onto a through ball in the right side of the area before catching Houston goalie Tyler Deric off his line with a fantastic chip from 15 yards.
Braun didn’t have any goals, but he was just as impressive as Bonfigli. The Salt Lake City native was strong in possession, good off the ball and – most importantly – lethal with the final pass, assisting on David Viana’s 25th minute goal, Bonfigli’s 60th minute strike and Sebastian Velasquez’s 69th minute score.
While they won’t be displacing red-hot regulars Alvaro Saborio or Fabian Espindola in the First XI in the near future, it was good to see Braun and Bonfigli perform so well on Wednesday morning. It'd be huge for RSL if either of those two could contribute - even a little bit - down the stretch.
Viana solid
RSL newcomer David Viana also had a strong game on Wednesday, scoring a goal and looking active in the midfield before coming off in the 77th minute.
“In the first half I thought David did a very good job,” RSL Reserves Coach Jeff Cassar said after the game. “He’s dynamic, got great feet, good vision; I think that he started to run out of gas a little bit in the second half after he’s been traveling a lot and stuff like that. It was just a solid performance for him and one to build on for sure.”
The Portuguese youth international passed well, was good – and very calm – when on the ball and decent off of it, too. He’s still learning RSL’s system and his defense is still coming along, but he’s clearly a talented player. He might not play much of a role for RSL this season, but he’s definitely someone to keep an eye on in the future.
