Bullet Takeaways
- RSL flounder in first Rocky Mountain derby of the year
- Much-maligned Ruiz reassuring in latterly rare holding midfield start
- RSL now winless in past four straight MLS outings
Story of the game
The first Rocky Mountain Cup derby of the season fell the way of the Colorado Rapids, much to Real Salt Lake’s growing chagrin. Manager Pablo Mastroeni’s charges slumped to a slender yet dismaying 1-0 defeat at the hands of their arch-rivals away at DSG Park on Saturday night, in the first of two currently scheduled domestic meetings between both sides in 2025.
A tight, considerably mundane affair, at least until that point, was eventually suddenly brought to a crescendo late on in the 70th minute when Rapids captain Đorđe Mihailović managed to find space in the box and plant a low, hard finish accurately into the bottom left-hand corner, merely 20 minutes from full time.
In a frenetic search for a way back into the contest, RSL new signing Johnny Russell was subsequently introduced later in the second half — becoming the club’s 223rd different MLS player in the process – and there was still time for the former Seattle Sounders man to nearly restore parity when his powerful effort from a tight angle in the box was powerfully repelled by Rapids goalkeeper Nicholas Hansen.
In the end, though, it would prove not to be for RSL who ultimately succumbed to a joint-second-Conference-most eighth defeat of the season — extending their contemporary run of winless fixtures now to four games — and must now work to try and find a way of salvaging what’s left of this campaign.
As is customary, our author discusses some of the more encouraging player performances from another latest domestic disappointment.
Ruiz Convincing in rare holding midfield start
Pablito would’ve dreamt of this day again.
Back at the base of midfield: at the heartbeat of everything happening all-round for his team, defensively and offensively – a throwback to his heydays when the midfielder ran the show for RSL almost as a one-man army, for a player gradually returning to his best form.
Consecutive cruel season-ending injuries in 2023 and 2024, combined with the emergent quality and durability of now-established first-choice midfielders Braian Ojeda and skipper Emeka Eneli, mean Pablo Ruiz has been afforded little opportunities as a starter this season, but Saturday night provided a necessary reminder of his once-heralded and still effective qualities.
The 26-year-old had already enjoyed two starts prior to the weekend’s rivalry clash — both of which came in more advanced, attacking midfield areas — but on Saturday, was afforded a recently rare opportunity to make a mark from the very off, dictating proceedings from a deeper-lying position – one he embraced it, and with full effervescence.
The Argentine did suffer an early baptism of fire less than five minutes in when he was outmuscled off the ball in his own penalty area by an opponent, which nearly led to RSL conceding the first goal, and had to be bailed out by the ever-reliable Rafael Cabral, but quickly recovered and gradually grew more into the game after that.
On his first competitive start in holding midfield in nearly two full years, Ruiz put forth an overall solid, dependable showing, particularly with his vision and quality on the ball, allowing him the ability to anchor proceedings from deep for the visitors.
Nearly midway through the first half, the midfielder’s visionary first-time clipped ball over the top came close to releasing striker William Agada for what would’ve been a one-v-one chance against Hansen, but for the goalkeeper’s sweeper instincts and slight weight of the pass.
A deep-lying playmaker by every grain and definition of the role, whilst Ruiz mostly lacks the ball-carrying and dribbling abilities of his midfield counterparts Ojeda and Eneli, the Argentine does boast a more impressive skill and range of passing than the established pair – all of which were well on display on Saturday night and also contributed in helping RSL maintain and dominate possession throughout the contest.
"I thought Pablo had a good game tonight. I think he still needs game minutes to continue to sharpen his sword, but I think his range of passing is something that we haven't had in that position,” head coach Mastroeni echoed to the assembled media in the aftermath of the game.
“Emeka and Ojeda do an incredible job of breaking the lines with their dribbling, whereas Pablo can break lines through his passes. He's got a great pass between the lines to find our 10s, but he's also got a range of passing where he can access our wing backs, and I think that is something that we haven't had, and that he did a pretty decent job with tonight.
“I know he under-hit a couple of those today, but typically that's his strong suit. And going back to 2023, he was an exceptional player for us in that position, to be able to get those chances and to isolate wingbacks one-v-one.
“And I think defensively he did a pretty good job. That’s one area where he'll need to continue to get reps. But overall, I think Pablo played a good game, and it's great to have another option. And we’ve got to find ways to tweak what we're doing to get guys in good goal-scoring positions and make plays offensively, and I think Pablo might be one of those options to help us do that."
As the RSL boss corroborated, Ruiz also proved relatively adept at his defensive and mop-up tasks, helping to shield his back four and snuff out opposition attacks by fair means or foul.
In the 37th minute, a shrewd shoulder-to-shoulder barge helped dispossess an opponent advancing dangerously into his penalty area and recover possession for RSL. Then, in the 55th minute, a gut-busting run, in the immediate aftermath of an offensive corner, from the opposition box all the way to deep within his own half aided him in tracking down his man and winning a crucial tackle to snuff out a dangerous looking rapid counter-attack.
An encouraging, committed showing, combined with RSL’s late pursuit of parity meant the defensive midfielder was eventually withdrawn late on 75 minutes but still with the third most dribble attempts (2) of any RSL player on the pitch for more than 45 minutes. His 45 (of 53 attempted) accurate passes also ranked him as the second highest in the category of any RSL player (excluding defenders) on the pitch at any point in the match – as a further underlining of a convincing performance.
What next for RSL?
Next up for RSL is a second meeting with Conference table-topping Vancouver Whitecaps, for a tantalizing home fixture at America First Field on Saturday, May 24, with kickoff slated for 7:30 PM MT. Tickets are available for purchase here.
