Entering the match, the talk surrounding Real Salt Lake’s meeting with New York City FC was about Jason Kreis making his return to Rio Tinto Stadium. By the end of the night, the stadium-record crowd of 20,801 was talking about a pair of returns, but it wasn’t of the players and coaches wearing the NYCFC badge. Instead it was of Javier Morales and Joao Plata returning from injury in RSL’s 2-0 win.
Though limited in their playing time, the duo did show what the team has been missing on the offensive end in their absences.
“I think you can see what we can do when we have a full arsenal of players,” said RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar.
Morales missed five of the last six matches after suffering a groin injury, then a concussion upon his return. He entered the match in the 62nd minute and had 35 touches over the final 28 minutes of play. While RSL didn’t add to its already hefty 2-0 lead in that time, Morales continued to impose danger on the NYCFC defense.
Before his injuries, he had been a pivotal piece for RSL’s attack in the earlygoing this season. Coming off of a season in 2014 that saw him log nine goals and 12 assists, Morales already had notched two goals and three assists in his first five matches this season. Now back involved in training sessions, the level of the team is rising each day.
“It was fantastic,” Cassar said. “Any time you can bring that type of quality on to the field to close out the game it's a blessing. It was great that he got rewarded for his hard work that he put in to get back from the concussion. A concussion is an interesting injury and I was proud of the way he came back.”
While Morales came back amidst strategic move by Cassar to keep the pressure on NYCFC in the second half, Plata’s appearance late in the match was a bit more of a cameo for the 23-year-old Ecuadorian forward. Out since the first day of training camp with a fractured foot, Plata has been diligently working his way back to fitness and played just one official minute in the match.
After an eruption from the crowd greeted Plata on the announcement that he was entering the match, he finished with four touches, all drawing more cheers from the crowd, and one shot that was blocked off his foot.
Plata tallied 13 goals and eight assists to earn RSL’s MVP honors. Now injecting a player of his talents into the lineup gives Cassar even more weapons moving forward.
“I wanted to get Joao on the field to say, ‘All of that hard work you've done has got you to this moment.’ We still have a lot more work to do on his fitness, but you can see his explosion,” Cassar said. “It was great for the fans to spur him on like that and spur our team on.”
The re-insertion of two key players into the lineup comes at a great time for RSL as the club prepares to round out a stretch of three games in eight days with road tests against the LA Galaxy and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The team has already felt a boost and could find more players back in contention for playing time when Sebastian Jaime and Chris Schuler get back on the field.
“Obviously, you heard the reception Plata got when he stepped back on the field – that was great to see. It was great to see that little man running around,” laughed midfielder Luke Mulholland, who picked up his second assist of the season on Alvaro Saborio’s second-half goal. “Now the games are going to come thick and fast. We’re going to need to rotate players and I think that having Morales back and Plata back is good timing.”
