Real Salt Lake 2 at Orlando City SC 2
March 6, 2016; Orlando, Florida; Citrus Bowl
Real Salt Lake (0-0-1, 1 point); Orlando City SC (0-0-1, 1 point)
Man of the Match: Joao Plata had a game to remember, scoring both goals for RSL to propel the Claret-and-Cobalt to a two-goal lead while playing with 10 men. His first came on a first-half penalty while the second came from a great ball across the box by Tony Beltran. Entering the final two matches of the opening weekend, Plata was the only player with two goals.
Telling Stat: 14. Of the 48 goals RSL allowed in 2015, 14 came in the final 15 minutes of the match. That trend, unfortunately, continued on Sunday night with both Orlando goals coming in second-half stoppage time.
What You Missed: The crowd of 60,147 was the largest crowd for a Real Salt Lake match in club history. The previous mark was 55,435 in the regular season finale last year against Seattle Sounders FC.
So What: Entering the match, RSL would have been happy to come away with a point. After a grueling stretch of travel and two fiercely competitive matches against Tigres in CONCACAF Champions League, the club could have been understandably down. However, after staking itself to a 2-0 lead, those expectations changed and to only come away with one point instead of three becomes a disappointing conclusion. Next up for the Claret-and-Cobalt is the regular season home opener against Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday. Tickets are available at RSL.com.
