Real Salt Lake 1 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
May 30, 2015; BC Place
Records: Real Salt Lake (4-5-5, 17 points). Vancouver Whitecaps FC (7-5-2, 23 points)
Man of the Match: Javier Morales again showed his importance to RSL’s attack and got back on the scoresheet with his third goal of the year, a stunning free kick just before halftime. He had both first-half shots on goal for RSL and assisted on one of the others, an Elias Vasquez header from a corner kick that nearly gave RSL the lead in the 64th minute.
Telling Stat: 19. The number of different starters used by Head Coach Jeff Cassar in the three-match week. On Saturday, Justen Glad made his MLS debut while Joao Plata made his first start of the season and Javier Morales and Sebastian Jaime both returned to the lineup after the trio endured long injury absences. Now with time to rest, the team has a chance to use a more optimum starting lineup since everyone will be well-rested.
What You Missed: This was the first match on Vancouver’s new artificial surface that was laid for the Women’s World Cup, which starts this week. The teams took some adjusting to the way the turf played, particularly since it was only just finished on Friday evening, but still played an entertaining match.
So What: RSL lost consecutive matches for just the fifth time in the last three seasons with none of the prior four being followed by a third loss. It was a grueling week, but Salt Lake can still look at the standings and see just six points separating it from the league-leaders with the narrowest of margins keeping RSL from occupying that spot itself.
