CARSON, California (Saturday, October 14, 2023) – Real Salt Lake (13-12-8, 47 points, 5th West), in its penultimate regular season match, secured a come-from-behind 2-2 draw at LA Galaxy thanks to goals from Anderson Julio and Diego Luna
Real Salt Lake found itself trailing early on, with Dejan Joveljic slipping a shot underneath the diving arms of goalkeeper **Zac MacMath** in the seventh minute to give the Galaxy the 1-0 lead. RSL nearly found the equalizer in the 18th minute when **Bryan Oviedo** served a ball in toward an unmarked **Andrew Brody**, but his shot smacked off the crossbar and the goalkeeper was able to wrap up the rebounded ball.
Despite enjoying a period of possession which led to several chances at goal, LA Galaxy doubled its lead in the 34th minute when an unmarked Douglas Costa curled one into the right post. In stoppage time of the first half Real Salt Lake was able to pull one back when **Anderson Julio** finally found the back of the net, to cut the deficit in half heading into the halftime break.
LA Galaxy came out of the break swinging, forcing MacMath to make several massive saves early in the second half, including a point-blank save in the 50th minute. As the second half wore on the Claret-and-Cobalt began to control much of the possession, but still found difficulty creating any serious chances to equalize.
Real Salt Lake finally found the equalizer in the 76th minute when **Diego Luna**, with a singular moment of brilliance, pushed in his shot by pure will, bringing things level at 2-2. As the Galaxy pressed to regain the lead, RSL’s defense was called upon to make several critical stops, including an impressive slide tackle from Oviedo in the 86th minute. It looked as if **Andrés Gómez** had found the go-ahead goal in stoppage time, but the goalkeeper was able to make the quick-reaction save. The match ended shortly after, resulting in a 2-2 draw for the Claret-and-Cobalt.
UP NEXT: RSL finishes the regular season with a trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park against Colorado Rapids on Major League Soccer’s “Decision Day.” Kickoff on Saturday, October 21 is set for 7:00 p.m. MT.
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
LA: Dejan Joveljic (Daniel Aguirre, Douglas Costa) 18th minute: Aguirre found Joveljic in the middle of the box, who one-touched a shot into the right post.
LA: Douglas Costa (Dejan Joveljic) 34th minute: Costa received the ball from Joveljic, unmarked inside the penalty box, before curling a shot into the far post.
RSL: Anderson Julio (Nelson Palacio) 45+1st minute: Palacio pounced on a poorly cleared ball, finding Julio inside the 18-yard-box with a short pass, who put his right-footed shot into the back of the net.
RSL: Diego Luna 76th minute: Jumping on a bouncing ball inside the box, Luna pushed his way through several defenders to slip a shot into the far-left post.
NOTES:
- The match was rescheduled from August 20, postponed due to Hurricane Hilary. The new date was scheduled for the middle of a FIFA International window, leaving RSL without four of its international players -- Forward Rubio Rubin (Guatemala), winger Jefferson Savarino (Venezuela), midfielder Braian Ojeda (Paraguay) and defender Kevon Lambert (Jamaica).
- Real Salt Lake was without defender Justen Glad due to a red card received in the team’s previous match against Sporting Kansas City.
- Real Monarchs forward Zavier Gozo and midfielder Griffin Dillon were added to RSL’s roster ahead of the match on short-term contracts via the “Extreme Hardship” mechanism. RSL Homegrown Axel Kei was also recalled from a season-long loan with the Monarchs for the match. All three players are products of the RSL Academy.
- Both Axel Kei and Zavier Gozo made their Real Salt Lake and Major League Soccer debuts in the 84th minute as second-half substitutions. Kei became the youngest to ever appear for RSL, entering the match at 15 years and 289 days, while Gozo became the third-youngest at 16 years and 206 days.
- Forward Anderson Julio recorded his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Nelson Palcio, his first goal contribution as a member of the Claret-and-Cobalt.
- 20-year-old midfielder Diego Luna recorded his fourth goal of the season and his fourth as a member of Real Salt Lake.
- RSL travels to Colorado for next week’s Decision Day, needing 3 points for playoff seeing as well as the chance to defeat the Rocky Mountain Cup rival Rapids for a Club-record 4th time in a single season across all competitions
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Zac MacMath; Andrew Brody (Jasper Löffelsend 75’), Marcelo Silva, Brayan Vera (Bode Hidalgo 46’), Bryan Oviedo; Maikel Chang (Zavier Gozo 84’), Emeka Eneli, Nelson Palacio, Diego Luna; Anderson Julio (Axel Kei 84’), Damir Kreilach (Andres Gomez 59’)
Subs not used: Tomas Gomez, Scott Caldwell, Griffin Dillon
LA Galaxy (4-3-3): Novak Micovic; Julian Aude (Raheem Edwards 72’), Maya Yoshida, Mauricio Cuevas, Tony Alfaro; Tyler Boyd (Jonathan Perez 72’), Edwil Cerrillo, Daniel Aguirre; Dejan Joveljic, Douglas Costa, Billy Sharp (Diego Fagundez 84’)
Subs not used: Jonathan Bond, Michael Barrios, Chris Mavinga, Gino Vivi, Preston Judd, Adam Saldana
Stats Summary: RSL / LA
Shots: 20/16
Shots on Goal: 6/7
Saves: 5/4
Corner Kicks: 6/8
Fouls: 6/10
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Emeka Eneli (caution) 54’
LA: Tony Alfaro (caution) 66’
LA: Daniel Aguirre (caution) 75’
