Real Salt Lake 2 vs. 1 Seattle Sounders
August 14, 2022; Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington
Real Salt Lake (10-8-7, 37 points); Seattle Sounders (10-13-2, 32 points)
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On RSL performing well after losses:
“There’s some losses where you look at performances and you think, ‘We have a long way to go,’ but in the last few games, particularly at home, we’ve played extremely well and just haven’t been able to capitalize. So when we do our video review, it’s really pointing out how close we are to getting results. To get results, there’s so many variables that go into that–it’s not only playing well, you have a team, you have the referees, you have fields, you have momentum, there’s so many variables that go into getting results, and tonight, it was a mentality game. It really evoked some of the emotions that we had early on in the year where the guys stood arm-in-arm and did whatever was necessary to come away with the three points.”
On the need for luck when the team concedes goals:
“Luck is an important component in any result. Often, stats will paint a picture of how the game went, but it in no way is a reflection of what it takes to get a result. You have to have breaks. Last game, Pablo [Ruiz] hits the crossbar, it doesn’t go in. [Justin] Meram is on the goal line, hits it off Sergio [Cordova], those are unlucky situations. Hence, we didn’t get the result. Tonight, we got some breaks, but, as they say, fortune favors the brave and the guys were brave tonight.”
On building off of this win:
“This is a different performance than the ones we’ve played at home as of late where we’ve been able to dictate the game with the ball. Like I told the guys, this is a different side of this group that we haven’t seen in quite some time. The steely mentality to defend, and to defend as a group–you know, the guys up front: Sava [Jefferson Savarino], Sergio, [Maikel] Chang, Meram, they were fantastic in closing and minimizing space on the midfield. At times, you don’t realize how important those recovery runs are until you’re pulling the ball out of the back of the net. This was different from the previous performances, and if we can couple this mentality, this type of defensive commitment, with some of the attacking stuff that we’ve been playing, we can set ourselves up to be in a good way for the final stretch of the season. Every game presents different challenges. Goals change games and the fact that we got one in the first half is something different from the last few games and really allowed us to build into it and be able to absorb a bit of pressure.”
Defender Justen Glad
On the final 15 minutes of play:
“We were under it. But on the road and in a tough place to play we knew it was going to be a battle. We knew we were going to have to grind it out, and that’s what we did. I couldn’t be more proud of the group.”
On the importance of the win:
“Hopefully. Obviously we’re excited, it’s going to push momentum our way and hopefully we can just keep that going. You said it yourself, we dropped points where we probably deserved more. That’s the game of soccer. It worked out in our favor tonight. Happy to get the three points.”
On adjusting to a five man backline:
“Whenever you have an extra body back there it’s going to be tough to break down. Especially a big body like [Erik] Holt. Once you get that sub in there’s a mentality that you have to have, you just have to defend, defend, defend. You have to give them nothing.”
Forward Jefferson Savarino
On the ball to Sergio Cordova for the opening goal:
“I’m always looking for those types of passes during a game. When you’re thinking like a winger you’re looking for those so I’m really happy that I was able to get through and that Sergio [Cordova] was able to score the goal.”
On the fight the team endured:
“We knew coming into it that it was going to be a difficult game. Seattle is a tough team to play at home and it was on us to suffer through just a little bit. It was really important that we were able to get that victory at the end as we fought through.”
On his quick acclimation since his return to RSL:
“It wasn’t really a surprise for me. A lot of my teammates already knew me and it was pretty easy to adapt myself to the team once I came back.”
