Javier Morales had several options when Joao Plata knocked the ball his way in the first half of Real Salt Lake’s match against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. With Jordan Allen coming up his left side and Devon Sandoval just in front of him, three defenders were occupied, so Morales instead ripped a shot off the half-volley to beat Tyler Deric for his fourth goal of the season.
“In that moment I saw Plata play the ball to me and my first thought was to play to somebody else,” Morales explained. “But when I turned I didn’t see anybody in front of me, so I said, ok let’s try it … And it worked.”
Morales is no stranger to magnificent goals – all four have been highlight-reel material this year. The same could be said for many of the 41 goals he has scored since coming to RSL in 2007.
“I’ve been here seven years. He’s had a lot of pretty nice goals in that time, so anytime he gets the ball anywhere he’s able to do something incredible, so that’s why we all try to get him the ball as often as we can,” defender Tony Beltran said.
Added RSL Head Coach Jeff Cassar, “He’s hungry. He wants this team to do well and you can see that he is really putting everything out there for the team right now.”
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