BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Saturday, May 9, 2015) – Real Salt Lake moved closer to a complete team performance on Saturday against the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. First, FW Alvaro Saborio ended a scoring skid that lasted over a month, then GK Nick Rimando held on for his 100th career win in an RSL uniform, as the Claret-and-Cobalt topped the Fire 2-1.
In addition to Saborio’s goal, MF Luke Mulholland added his second goal of the year and MF Jordan Allen finished with two assists as Real Salt Lake improved to 3-2-5 (14 points) and extended its unbeaten streak to three matches.
In the 13th minute, Allen pressed up the left side toward the corner and crossed to the top of the box. MF Luis Gil ran past it, leaving Saborio to settle and shoot, placing it inside the left post for his second goal of the season, giving RSL a 1-0 lead.
Chicago went on to outshoot RSL 6-2 in the first half, including two late chances from former RSL defender Lovel Palmer, but Saborio’s goal was the only shot on frame in the half.
In the 54th minute, Chicago nearly turned that offensive edge into an equalizer. Guly raced past DF Elias Vasquez up the right side and carried to the endline before crossing for a late runner in the box. However, Rimando sprung out to cover the ball and RSL got the clearance.
Salt Lake made the Fire pay for that missed chance just two minutes later.
Allen played FW Devon Sandoval in behind the Chicago defense. He drew the nearest marker and the attention of Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson before leaving the ball at the far post for Mulholland. He hit the first time shot back inside the opposite post for a 2-0 lead with his second goal of the season in the 56th minute.
In the 67th minute, Chicago looked to pull one back off the foot of Kennedy Igbonanike. Joevin Jones played the left-footed cross from the left side and Igbonanike got a solid right-footed effort, but Rimando made a fantastic stop to parry it over the crossbar for his first official save of the match.
In the 87th minute, Chicago earned a penalty when Shaun Maloney got to the endline with the ball off a headed corner kick and cut back on Vasquez, who went to ground and drew the foul call in the box.
Jeff Larentowicz powered the penalty kick inside the left post, just beating Rimando for the goal, cutting RSL’s lead to 2-1.
In stoppage time, Jones got a left-footed strike on frame from the left side of the box, but Rimando made the save on the high shot, pushing it over for a corner.
In the final moments, RSL kept the ball out of danger and held on for the 2-1 victory.
Real Salt Lake will continue its stretch with four out of five matches on the road at Saputo Stadium against the Montreal Impact on Saturday May 16. Pregame starts at 1:30 p.m. MT on KMYU
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – CHIvRSL
- Real Salt Lake repeated the same lineup for the first time all season. In the previous eight matches, Head Coach Jeff Cassar used a different lineup.
- Alvaro Saborio’s 13th minute goal was the first time RSL had scored in the first 15 minutes of a match this season after leading the league in scoring over the first 15 minutes last season.
- Jordan Allen had two assists in his last match before joining the U.S. U-20 National Team for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. The 20-year-old standout has one goal and two assists in nine appearances this season for RSL.
- Nick Rimando’s all-time record with Real Salt Lake is now 100-71-62. With the match, he also matched Steve Ralston in second place on the all-time MLS mark for career appearances with 378.
CHICAGO FIRE 1-2 REAL SALT LAKE
SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2015
TOYOTA PARK
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Chicago Fire 0 1 1
Real Salt Lake 1 2 2
Scoring Summary:
RSL: Alvaro Saborio (Jordan Allen) – 13’
RSL: Luke Mulholland (Devon Sandoval, Jordan Allen) – 56’
CHI: Jeff Larentowicz (PK) – 88’
Misconduct Summary:
RSL: Luke Mulholland (Yellow; Foul) – 27’
CHI: Guly (Yellow; Foul) – 32’
RSL: Jordan Allen (Yellow; Foul) – 50’
CHI: Matt Polster (Yellow; Foul) – 70’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Elias Vasquez, Jamison Olave, Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman (C), Luis Gil, Luke Mulholland, Jordan Allen (John Stertzer – 65’); Alvaro Saborio (Abdoulie Mansally – 82’), Devon Sandoval (Olmes Garcia – 90’).
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Aaron Maund, Pecka, Sebastian Saucedo.
Chicago Fire (4-4-2): Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer, Jeff Larentowicz, Adailton (Jason Johnson – 88’), Joevin Jones; Harry Shipp, Matt Watson (Razvan Cocis – 53’), Matt Polster, Shaun Maloney; Guly (Kennedy Igboananike – 58’), Quincy Amarikwa.
Substitutes not used: Jon Busch, Eric Gehrig, Greg Cochrane, Chris Ritter.
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referees: Adam Garner, Marco Arruda
4th Official: Jorge Gonzalez
Attendance: 16,017
Weather: Cloudy and 52
