SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio has been ruled out for Sunday’s Western Conference Championship second leg due to injury.
RSL Head Coach Jason Kreis revealed to media on Friday’s conference call that Saborio will miss Sunday’s match due to a right hip flexor strain sustained in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinals against LA Galaxy on Nov. 7. Saborio left the match in the second period of extra time after suffering the strain. The Claret-and-Cobalt went on to finish the rest of extra-time with 10 men and defeated LA Galaxy 2-0 to advance to the Western Conference Championship.
Kreis told media on Friday that he’s hopeful that Saborio will be available for MLS Cup on Dec. 7 should Real Salt Lake advance past Portland on Sunday.
Real Salt Lake enters Sunday’s second leg with a 4-2 aggregate goal lead over Portland. RSL will advance to MLS Cup if it maintains its two-goal advantage in regulation. If the sides are tied on aggregate after regulation, the teams will play two, 15-minute extra time periods. If the teams are still tied following extra time, the series will be decided in a penalty kick shootout.
The winner of the RSL-Portland series will face the winner of the Eastern Conference Championship series between Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City in MLS Cup on Dec. 7. RSL and Portland will face off at 7:00 p.m. MT on Sunday on ESPN at JELD-WEN Field. The second leg of the Houston-Kansas City series will kick at 5:30 p.m. MT on Saturday on NBC Sports Network at Sporting Park.
