MONTREAL, Canada - Real Salt Lake fell 4-1 at Montreal Saturday afternoon at Stade Saputo in Quebec, conceding three goals in a 12-minute span midway through the first half. The 3-0 halftime deficit was RSL's worst since a September, 2011 game at D.C. United, which also ended with a 4-1 final scoreline. RSL FW Devon Sandoval provided hope for the Claret-and-Cobalt with a goal 90 seconds into the second half, cutting Montreal's lead to two, but a late putback by Impact FW Dilly Duka sealed RSL's fate in the 79th minute.
Real Salt Lake falls to 3-3-5 on the season, currently in seventh place in the MLS Western Conference. With two-thirds of the year remaining, Head Coach Jeff Cassar hopes to welcome the return of the club's leading 2014 scorer, FW Joao Plata, out since late January with a broken foot. Also missing for an extended time throughout the first 11 games of this 34-game season have been MF Javier Morales (concussion), responsible for 25% of the club's all-time 445 goals scored; DF Chris Schuler (knee) and FW Sebastian Jaime (broken tibia).
Saturday at Stade Saputo, Montreal burst out to an 18th minute lead when DF Laurent Ciman got his boot to a Marco Donadel corner kick, tapping home nearly unmarked from the six. With barely enough time to regroup after the first goal conceded, the Impact pounced for a second goal. MF Ignacio Piatti collected the ball against the right sideline and led Romero in behind the RSL defense. GK Nick Rimando charged off his line, but was caught at the edge of the box and Romero chipped it into the opened net for his first goal of the season and a 2-0 Montreal lead. Montreal's two goals in as many minutes matched the CONCACAF Champions League Finalist's output in its previous 512 minutes across all competitions.
Romero added another goal in the 29th minute, putting back the rebound of a shot from Dominic Oduro. Callum Mallace played the ball from right to left to lead Oduro into the box and he shot for the far post, but hit it off the upright. The rebound fell to Romero alone in front of the net and he thumped it into the net for a 3-0 Impact lead.
Montreal nearly made it 4-0 in the final minutes of the first half when DF Elias Vasquez brought down Oduro for a penalty in the 42nd minute. Piatti stepped to the spot and fired for the low right corner, but Rimando had the post covered and the ball caromed away for a corner kick. RSL GK Nick Rimando - now second in Major League Soccer all-time games played with 379 appearances - has faced a penalty kick in three consecutive games, but has allowed just one conversion, last week at Chicago. Rimando's opposing PK takers are just 43-for-68 all-time in his 16 MLS seasons, and have converted just four of the last 14 attempts.
After the intermission, RSL came back on the attack. MF Luis Gil carried the ball into the box on the right side and was brought down, leaving the ball loose for Sandoval, who curled a left-footed shot first-time inside the far post for this first goal of the season, bringing the deficit down to 3-1 in the 47th minute.
MF Kyle Beckerman nearly pulled another back just minutes later, in the 50th minute. MF Jordan Allen - making his final league appearance prior to the FIFA World Youth Championship in New Zealand - was pulled down for a foul 16 yards out on the left wing, leaving Beckerman with a tight angle on his free kick. He played it to the edge of the six-yard box where it bounced through traffic before being speared away by Montreal GK Evan Bush.
Late in the match, RSL conceded a fourth goal for the second time on the road this season, as Impact FW Dilly Duka slotted home the rebound of a Rimando save, RSL's 'keeper denying a shot from a sharp angle by Montreal's Jack McInerney, Duka beating the RSL defense to the saved shot and completing the 4-1 rout.
RSL hosts former captain and head coach Jason Kreis next Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium, as expansion club NYCFC visits Utah for the first time. Kreis is one of 11 players, coaches or technical staff members to have once called Real Salt Lake home, as assistants Miles Joseph and CJ Brown, head athletic trainer Kevin Christen and equipment manager Danny LaRoche join MF Ned Grabavoy, DF Chris Wingert, DF Kwame Watson-Siriboe, GK Josh Saunders, MF Sebastian Velasquez and MF Mehdi Ballouchy in an RSL homecoming next weekend in Sandy. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT before a standing-room only crowd, with live local television coverage on KMYU.
Real Salt Lake Match Notes - MTLvRSL
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Real Salt Lake used the same lineup in three consecutive matches for the first time since the first three matches of the 2012 season, spanning 129 matches in all competitions.
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On Sunday, Jordan Allen is scheduled to depart on his journey to join the U.S. U-20 National Team ahead of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand. After leaving Montreal on Sunday afternoon, he will travel over 24 hours and over 9,960 air miles before joining the squad - on Tuesday - in Sydney, Australia, for training.
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GK Nick Rimando's record against penalties improved with Ignacio Piatti's miss in the 43rd minute. He has now allowed goal on just 43 out of the 68 penalties he has faced in his MLS career and 26 out of 38 since coming to RSL in 2007.
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RSL Captain Kyle Beckerman - who has now played 985 of the club's 990 minutes this season - completed a third consecutive game without a yellow card following his fourth caution of the season back on May 1, placing him in yellow card peril and on the precipice of a one-game suspension. Beckerman now sees his caution total reduced to three yellow cards, while midfield teammate Luke Mulholland must remain caution-free in next week's match against New York City to earn the same recognition under the league's "Good Behavior Initiative," allowed once per season for each MLS player.
MONTREAL IMPACT 3-1 REAL SALT LAKE
SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015
SAPUTO STADIUM
Goals by Period
1
2
F
Montreal Impact
3
1
4
Real Salt Lake
0
1
1
Scoring Summary:
MTL - Laurent Ciman (Marco Donadel) 18'
MTL - Andres Romero (Ignacio Piatti) 20'
MTL - Andres Romero 29'
RSL - Devon Sandoval (Luis Gil, Luke Mulholland) 47'
MTL - Dilly Duka 79'
Misconduct Summary:
MTL - Marco Donadel (Yellow; Foul) 8'
RSL - Jordan Allen (Yellow; Foul) 38'
RSL - Elias Vasquez (Yellow; Foul) 43'
RSL - Tony Beltran (Yellow; Foul) 58'
MTL - Eric Miller (Yellow; Foul) 76'
Lineups:
Montreal Impact (4-2-3-1): Evan Bush; Nigel Reo-Coker (C), Bakary Soumare, Laurent Ciman, Eric Miller; Marco Donadel (Patrice Bernier, 76'), Calum Mallace; Dilly Duka, Ignacio Piatti, Andres Romero (Eric Alexander, 67'); Dominic Oduro (Jack McInerney, 63').
Substitutes not used: Eric Kronberg, Wandrille Lefevre, Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, Romario Williams.
Real Salt Lake (4-1-3-2): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Elias Vasquez, Jamison Olave, Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman (C) (John Stertzer 85'); Luke Mulholland (Sebastian Saucedo, 61'), Luis Gil, Jordan Allen; Alvaro Saborio, Devon Sandoval (Olmes Garcia, 75').
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Abdoulie Mansally, Aaron Maund, Pecka.
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Assistant Referees: Daniel Belleau, Phillipe Briere
4th Official: Kevin Terry, Jr.
Attendance: 12,158
Weather: Cloudy and 77
