CARSON, Calif. (Saturday, April 23, 2016) – Real Salt Lake suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday night, dropping a 5-2 result at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
FW Juan Manuel Martinez and MF Javier Morales scored goals for RSL, but a barrage from the Galaxy in the first half put the game out of reach and the Claret-and-Cobalt dropped to 4-1-2 (14 points) on the season.
LA outshot RSL 12-4 in the first half and that advantage started early.
In the fifth minute, the Galaxy drew a penalty when DF Tony Beltran was whistled for a foul in the box when Giovani dos Santos went down under Beltran’s challenge on a cross from the right side.
Like he has so many times before, though, Rimando came up big. LA’s Steven Gerrard stepped to the penalty spot and shot to Rimando’s right and the league’s all-time leader in shutouts guessed correctly and made the stop, pushing the ball clear to keep the match scoreless.
LA had another opportunity in the 12th minute in a flurry when Giovani dos Santos hit the post and two more efforts missed the mark.
RSL jumped on its first opportunity in the 16th minute as MF Luke Mulholland found Martinez for his second goal in as many matches.
After RSL earned a throw on the right side, the Claret-and-Cobalt connected a series of passes before Mulholland whipped the ball in to the far post. Martinez rose above LA defender A.J. DeLaGarza and snapped a header past Brian Rowe for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead after the Galaxy had controlled most of the first 15 minutes.
Over the next 29 minutes, LA would assume control of the match with four goals from four different scorers to take a 4-1 lead into halftime.
First, it was Gyasi Zardes firing a laser from 25 yards out on LA’s eight shot of the match, equalizing in the 19th minute. Next, Mike Magee got on the end of a ball from Emmanuel Boateng to make it 2-1 in the 26th minute. Then Boateng added one of his own, redirecting a ball from Zardes in the 41st minute. And finally, dos Santos curled a ball in from the left side that tucked its way inside the far post in the 45th minute to send the match to the break with LA scoring four unanswered goals.
In the 70th minute, RSL pulled a goal back from the penalty spot as Morales returned from a one-match absence due to illness to score his first goal of the season.
FW Jordan Allen sent a ball into the box from the right side, and LA defender Daniel Steres pulled FW Yura Movsisyan down from behind for a penalty. Morales and Movsisyan both stepped to the spot, but it was Morales who would take it, pushing his shot to Rowe’s left while the keeper dove right to make the score 4-2.
That was as close as it would get in the second half, though and Keane converted on a 1v1 opportunity in second-half stoppage time for the final 5-2 tally.
Real Salt Lake will return home to face the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, April 30 in the final home game before the pitch at Rio Tinto Stadium is replaced. The next home match after April 30 will be on June 18 as RSL will play five straight matches on the road.
GAME NOTES – LAvRSL
- Saturday marked the 400th career MLS regular season appearance for RSL GK Nick Rimando. He is the second player in league history to appear in 400 regular season matches and he is the all-time leader in starts without an appearance off the bench – Tony Meola is second in league history with 250. Rimando finished the night with six saves in defeat.
- RSL FW Juan Manuel Martinez scored in his second consecutive match, but was substituted from the match in the 23rd minute after experiencing quad tightness.
- MF Javier Morales scored his first goal of the season, marking his first score since September 19, 2015, in a 3-0 win over the Galaxy at Rio Tinto Stadium. He now has seven goals and nine assists in 20 career regular season matches against LA.
- RSL played without FW Joao Plata, who suffered a quad injury in training on Wednesday. MF Sunday Stephen was on the bench for the first time since suffering an injury in a 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids on April 9, but he did not appear in the match. For LA, MF Nigel de Jong served the second game of his three-match suspension while FW Robbie Keane was out with a knee injury.
REAL SALT LAKE 2-5 LA GALAXY
SATURDAY, APRIL 23, 2016
STUBHUB CENTER
Goals by Period 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 4 1 5
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
RSL: Juan Manuel Martinez (Luke Mulholland) 16’
LA: Gyasi Zardes (Baggio Husidic) 19’
LA: Mike Magee (Emmanuel Boateng) 26’
LA: Emmanuel Boateng (Gyasi Zardes, Giovani dos Santos) 41’
LA: Giovani dos Santos (Emmanuel Boateng, Mike Magee) 45’
RSL: Javier Morales (PK) 70’
Misconduct Summary:
RSL: Kyle Beckerman (Caution; Dissent) 13’
LA: Gyasi Zardes (Caution; Foul) 38’
RSL: Tony Beltran (Caution; Foul) 57’
RSL: Jamison Olave (Caution; Foul) 60’
LA: Jelle Van Damme (Caution; Foul) 68’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave, Aaron Maund, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman, John Stertzer (Javier Morales 46’); Juan Manuel Martinez (Demar Phillips 23’), Luke Mulholland, Jordan Allen (Olmes Garcia 78’); Yura Movsisyan.
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Justen Glad, Devon Sandoval, Sunday Stephen.
LA Galaxy (4-2-3-1): Brian Rowe; A.J. DeLaGarza (Robbie Rogers 81’), Daniel Steres, Jelle Van Damme, Ashley Cole; Baggio Husidic (Jeff Larentowicz 76’), Steven Gerrard; Mike Magee (Bradford Jamieson 92+’), Giovani dos Santos, Emmanuel Boateng; Gyasi Zardes.
Substitutes not used: Dan Kennedy, Rafael Garcia, Ariel Lassiter, Dave Romney.
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistant Referees: Jeff Hosking, Andrew Bigelow
Fourth Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 25,867
