Real Salt Lake 3 vs 1 San Jose Earthquakes
April 22, 2023; America First Field; Sandy, Utah
Real Salt Lake (3-5-0, 9 points); San Jose Earthquakes (4-3-2, 14 points)
Man of the Match: Andrés Gómez opened his Major League Soccer goal account in the 3-1 victory over San Jose Earthquakes. RSL’s offseason acquisition recorded his third assist of the season in the 54th minute on **Jefferson Savarino**’s goal and then added his own name to the scoring sheet in the 80th minute on a screaming left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard-box.
Telling Stats: Savarino scored his 31st goal and recorded his 30th career assist tonight, making him the second-fastest player in Club history to reach the 30 goal-30 assist club, doing so in 108 matches. Joao Plata achieved the feat in 104 matches. **Jasper Löffelsend**’s goal in the 40th minute marked the first time this season that RSL has scored the first goal of a match, in the eighth game of the season. That is the longest streak of games to start a season without scoring the opening goal of a match since 2007, when it took RSL 12 games to score first, courtesy of Robbie Findley in a 2-1 win against D.C. United on June 23rd. Under Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni, RSL is now 14-2-5 when opening the scoring.
What You Missed: Real Salt Lake did not lack offensive opportunities in the first half, creating several chances on net in the opening half hour. The efforts paid off in the 39th minute when Jasper Löffelsend intercepted a San Jose pass, creating a 3-on-1 which Löffelsend slammed home after connecting on a 1-2 pass with **Danny Musovski** to take the 1-0 lead. After the break, San Jose wasted little time to find an equalizer as Christian Espinoza struck a free kick in the 49th minute that took a deflection before crossing the goal line. RSL bounced back quickly just five minutes later as Jefferson Savarino curled a shot past a diving JT Marcinkowski to retake the lead. Andrés Gómez, who already had an assist on the night, scored his first-ever MLS goal in the 80th minute to seal the 3-1 victory and three points.
What’s Next?: RSL will look for its first back-to-back win as Seattle Sounders FC visit America First Field next Saturday, April 30 at 7:30 pm M.T. concluding the season series between the two teams. The following week, the Club will head back to Texas on Saturday, May 6 to face Houston Dynamo FC at 6:30 pm M.T.
