Each week we take a look at how the experts view Real Salt Lake in relation to the rest of the league with their weekly power rankings. RSL may have suffered its first defeat of the season, falling 5-2 to the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center, but that didn’t drop them too far on MLSsoccer.com, ESPN FC and SI. Let’s take a look at the thoughts from around the internet.
MLSsoccer.com – 4
“As strong as they’ve been to start 2016, RSL are allowed Saturday's stinker. Especially because it essentially came without their four best players: MVP candidate Joao Plata and Newcomer of the Year candidate Stephen Sunday sat out, Burrito only went 23 minutes and Javi Mo came off the bench when they were already 4-1 down.”
SI.com – 3
“Goalkeeper Nick Rimando had a penalty stop, but then followed that up with some uncharacteristically sloppy play on LA's opening two goals. Once the Galaxy took the lead, Salt Lake simply fell apart. At the moment, this shouldn’t be anything other than a blip on the radar for one of MLS’ early surprise packages, which was the last unbeaten to fall.”
ESPNFC.com – 5
“RSL's first loss of the season was a whopper. Little went right after Juan Manuel "Burrito" Martinez's goal as Real's defense completely collapsed. Martinez's early exit because of injury is another blow for RSL's attack.”
Do you agree with the pundits? Where would you place the Claret-and-Cobalt after suffering its first loss of the season? Give your views in the comments section below.
