SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, May 6, 2015) – It started with a lightning bolt and ended with a thunderous ovation for Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday night.
After RSL and the LA Galaxy waited out a 62-minute delay because of severe weather in the vicinity of Rio Tinto Stadium, things kicked off and RSL went on the offensive from the start, but it was a penalty save from GK Nick Rimando that brought the crowd of 19,296 to the greatest roar of the night as Real Salt Lake capped off a scoreless draw with Rimando’s heroic last-minute effort.
Rimando, who has saved 15 of the 40 PK attempts against him in a Real Salt Lake uniform, stopped Juninho’s stoppage time penalty to earn his fourth shutout in seven starts this season and the 119th in his MLS career.
The Claret-and-Cobalt got four shots away before LA managed its first. MF Jordan Allen had the only shot on goal of the half in the 14th minute when he took a right-footed shot from just outside the box, but it bounced into the arms of GK Jaime Penedo.
RSL continued to press throughout the half and their aggressive approach earned seven offside whistles in the first half alone and several other balls into the box that just missed their intended targets.
The Galaxy didn’t register its first shot until the 39th minute, then added another in first-half stoppage time and FW Gyasi Zardes nearly put that away, narrowly missing his header off a ball from MF Stefan Ishizaki and the match went into halftime scoreless.
RSL nearly broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute.
First, MF Luke Mulholland thumped a left-footed shot from the right side, cutting into the box and sending a shot on frame that Penedo got his gloves to for the save. RSL kept the ball alive and FW Devon Sandoval got his head to a ball from MF Kyle Beckerman was saved again at the near post by Penedo.
LA nearly nabbed the lead in the 66th minute when FW Alan Gordon headed a ball from DF Dan Gargan, but Rimando pawed the high shot over the crossbar for his first save of the night.
Back the other direction, FW Alvaro Saborio spun a side-winding shot from 15 yards out in the 70th minute and Penedo made the initial stop, but Gargan nearly touched the rebound back into the net for an own-goal as the ball rolled wide for a corner kick.
In the 76th minute, it was Saborio again, this time swiping the ball off of DF Leonardo and carrying it into the box. He found some space on his zig-zagging run and shot on frame and Penedo lunged to make the save and push the ball wide for a corner.
Then, in the 90th minute, DF Omar Gonzalez went down in the box on contact from DF Jamison Olave on an LA Galaxy free kick and the referee’s assistant signaled for a penalty.
Rimando made the diving save to his left to stop the shot from Juninho and RSL kept the Galaxy off the board.
RSL nearly got the winner in stoppage time too, with Olave getting to a ball in the box, but his shot from the right side rolled just wide of the far post and the match finished in a scoreless draw.
Real Salt Lake is now 2-2-5 on the season and will play four of its next five matches on the road, starting on Saturday against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Stadium. Kickoff in the only match of the season between the two teams is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT with television coverage on KMYU.
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – RSLvLA
- In Nick Rimando’s MLS career opponents have scored on 42 of 66 penalties (63.6%), and just 25 of 40 (62.5%) with Real Salt Lake.
- This was the third straight draw between RSL and the Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium across all competitions, including a scoreless draw in the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs. Overall, RSL is unbeaten in its last five matches at home against the Galaxy at 2-0-3.
- RSL has used nine different starting lineups in nine matches thus far this season.
REAL SALT LAKE 0-0 LA GALAXY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2015
RIO TINTO STADIUM
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
LA Galaxy 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
None.
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Omar Gonzalez (Yellow; Foul) – 42’
RSL – Jamison Olave (Yellow; Foul) – 89’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Elias Vasquez, Jamison Olave, Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman (C), Luis Gil, Luke Mulholland (Sebastian Saucedo – 86’), Jordan Allen; Alvaro Saborio, Devon Sandoval (Olmes Garcia – 76’).
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Abdoulie Mansally, Aaron Maund, Pecka, John Stertzer.
LA Galaxy (4-4-2): Jaime Penedo; A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, Dan Gargan; Baggio Husidic, Stefan Ishizaki (Juninho – 72’), Rafael Garcia, Bradford Jamieson (Mika Vayrynen – 82’); Alan Gordon (Ingacio Maganto – 72’), Gyasi Zardes.
Substitutes not used: Brian Rowe, Raul Mendiola, Tommy Meyer, Oscar Sorto.
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Fabio Tovar, Jeremy Hanson
4th Official: Tyler Ploeger
Attendance: 19,296
Weather: Partly cloudy and 57
