Real Salt Lake 1 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0
March 9, 2019; Rio Tinto Stadium
Real Salt Lake (1-0-1, 4 points); Vancouver Whitecaps FC (0-2-0, 0 points)
Man of the Match: It truly was a team effort as RSL earned a clean sheet and opened the home schedule with a 1-0 victory. Nick Rimando made five saves in earning his 145th career shutout and 210th career win. Aaron Herrera made a team-high six tackles, including several to thwart Vancouver’s attack in and around the box. Nedum Onuoha was equally dangerous in keeping the Whitecaps FC strikers at bay. Everton Luiz and Kyle Beckerman broke up play in the midfield to limit the danger in the Vancouver transition. Corey Baird was aggressive at the point of the attack and earned the first-half penalty that was converted by Albert Rusnák, who finished with four chances created to go with four shots and four shots on goal. In the end, the reasonable solution would be to match Head Coach Mike Petke’s postgame reaction to give the whole team the game ball.
Telling Stat: 145 career shutouts. 210 career wins. 1,635 career saves. Without question, Nick Rimando is the GOAT.
What You Missed: The win was important for RSL, but perhaps equally important to the atmosphere at Rio Tinto Stadium was the newly united supporter group in the South End – The Riot. Prior to the match, the supporters unveiled a giant tifo covering the entire south end reading “We are the Riot” across the top and “Estamos Unidos” across the bottom. There was a palpable energy from the crowd throughout the match and after the final whistle, Petke led his team to the south end where broadcast analyst and author of the first home goal in RSL club history in 2005 Brian Dunseth was waving a Riot flag. Dunseth handed the flag off to one of the supporters, who then delivered it to Beckerman. After acknowledging the crowd, he planted the flag in a stand in the south goal, mimicking the goal celebration from Dunseth’s inaugural goal and starting a new tradition after home wins. All-in-all, the recognizable difference was a sign of things to come at Rio Tinto Stadium.
So What: The win sets the tone for RSL’s home slate this season, where the club held the best record in the Western Conference in 2018 and has the best record in the West since 2009 – the first full season at Rio Tinto Stadium. With five of the next eight matches on the road, starting off the season strong will be important for RSL and a 1-0-1 start with just one goal conceded is a solid opening for the 2019 season. Next up is two difficult road matches against D.C. United and LAFC.
