Real Salt Lake 3 at New York City FC 2
June 2, 2016; New York, New York; Yankee Stadium
Real Salt Lake (7-4-2, 23 points); New York City FC (4-5-6, 18 points)
Man of the Match: Yura Movsisyan scored his fourth goal of the season, notching a goal in his second consecutive start after being limited to a bench role in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Columbus Crew SC because of illness. He also drew the foul that set the stage for a goal from Juan Manuel Martinez as RSL took a 2-1 lead. Movsisyan has brought an added dimension to RSL’s attack and when he is finishing, it makes for a lethal attack as Salt Lake has netted nine goals in the last three matches.
Telling Stat: You never want to allow the first goal in a match, but Real Salt Lake won’t back down just because the opponent scores first. So far this season, RSL is 3-2-0 when allowing the first goal, including wins over Seattle Sounders FC, the Houston Dynamo and now NYCFC.
What You Missed: After not seeing an own goal on either side through the first 10 matches of the season, RSL has had own goals in each of the last three matches, seeing the benefit twice and allowing one. The benefactors have won in each of the three matches.
So What: RSL got six points from the five-game road stretch with wins over Sporting Kansas City and NYCFC. Three one-goal losses in between saw RSL competitive throughout the road series as Salt Lake improved to 7-4-2 overall and 3-4-2 on the road. With 21 matches left on the schedule, RSL will play 13 more games at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the Claret-and-Cobalt is a perfect 4-0-0 this year. Now with 12 days before the next RSL match in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, the club has a chance to rest up ahead of a busy stretch that will see four games in 13 days and could see six games in 19 days with advancement in the U.S. Open Cup.
