Real Salt Lake 3 vs. 1 New York Red Bulls
July 15, 2023; America First Field; Sandy, Utah
Real Salt Lake (10-7-7, 37 points); New York Red Bulls (6-9-8, 26 points)
Man of the Match: In the team’s last match before the League’s Cup break, Real Salt Lake midfielder **Braian Ojeda** was exemplary across 90 minutes to help lift the Club to a 3-1 victory. Ojeda made multiple key passes and runs from the midfield, opening up the pitch for his teammates in the half spaces and wings. The midfielder completed 80 percent of his passes while winning the majority of his duels, significantly limiting the time New York Red Bulls had possession. Ojeda also helped direct the backline and made multiple interceptions late into the match that were destined to cause trouble for **Zac MacMath**, preventing any comeback by the Red Bulls.
Telling Stats: Real Salt Lake continued its impressive unbeaten streak against the New York Red Bulls having not suffered a defeat in their last nine matches. With the win RSL claims the fourth longest unbeaten streak in Club history moving closer to the longest unbeaten streak of 18 matches, a record set during the 2010 and 2011 seasons. In 14 attempts to claim a win against RSL at America First Field the Red Bulls have only done so once in 2008 during the Western Conference Final, in all other matches New York has been unable to claim victory. Real Salt Lake has only suffered two defeats in its last 16 league matches since the start of April and has the third most points in Major League Soccer during that span, only FC Cincinnati and Philadelphia Union have gained more points since the start of April.
What You Missed: Unbeaten in its last eight matches Real Salt Lake looked to open the scoreline early against New York Red Bulls on its way to victory. After just two minutes of play **Diego Luna** slotted the ball into the bottom right corner of goal with one touch after **Jefferson Savarino** found the United States Youth National Team standout in the box. Throughout the remainder of the first half Real Salt Lake continued to break through the Red Bulls backline, creating a multitude of chances, but none proved fruitful before heading into halftime break with the 1-0 advantage. As soon as the second half began RSL continued to bombard New York with a multitude of attacking runs and it did not take long for the Claret-and-Cobalt to find the second goal of the match after **Danny Musovski** threaded a pass between two defenders to the feet of Luna who chipped the ball over the ‘keeper in the 53rd minute for the 2-0 lead. The Red Bulls were able to pull one back in the 80th minute after Frankie Amaya slotted a missile past MacMath from the center of the box. Real Salt Lake refused to give the Red Bulls any hope of a comeback with Savarino firing a screamer from well outside the 18-yard-box to lift the Club to a 3-1 victory over New York Red Bulls.
What’s Next: Real Salt Lake will host both its Leagues Cup matches at America First Field with the first being played on Saturday, July 22 against Seattle Sounders FC with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. The following Wednesday, July 26 RSL will face Liga MX side CF Monterrey, with further matches being determined based on results of the group stage matches.
