CARSON, California (Wednesday, October 26, 2016) – Real Salt Lake ended its season Wednesday night in the Knockout Round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, falling 3-1 to the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center.
RSL got a first-half goal from FW Joao Plata, but Emmanuel Boateng finished the night with two goals and Alan Gordon had a goal and two assists to propel the Galaxy past the visitors.
In the fifth all-time playoff meeting between the two Western Conference foes, the Galaxy put RSL in behind in the 14th minute on a goal from Gordon.
Landon Donovan ran up the right side and put a cross into the box. Giovani dos Santos got his head to it at the near post to flick it through to Gordon crashing at the far post for a left-footed volley into the open net for a 1-0 Galaxy lead.
In the 19th minute, MF Javier Morales worked his way into the box and was dragged down from behind by Boateng and referee Alan Kelly pointed to the spot for a penalty.
Plata converted the spot kick, blasting it past Brian Rowe and just like that the match was equalized in the 21st minute.
Boateng restored the deficit in the 26th minute, darting into the box off a ball laid off by Gordon. Boateng motored past the defenders at the edge of the box to the right, then put his shot past Rimando inside the far post to make it 2-1 in favor of the Galaxy.
Boateng wasn’t done there though. In the 34th minute, he again turned on a burst of speed to bolt past DF Demar Phillips up the right side before slotting a right-footed shot past Rimando for his second goal of the night as LA snared a 3-1 lead.
For the half, LA put three shots on goal and all three found the back of the net. LA held advantages in shots (6-4), shots on goal (3-2) and possession (63.6%), leading to the lopsided first half score line.
The possession discrepancy continued in the second half, though not as prominently as the first half as the Galaxy held 57% of the ball in the second half. And while RSL outshot LA 8-2, with three shots on goal, none were particularly threatening to Rowe and the 3-1 halftime score held.
Real Salt Lake finished the season in the playoffs for the eighth time in the last nine seasons after a one-year hiatus in 2015, posting a 12-12-10 record that was good for sixth in the Western Conference. With an 8-1-8 home record, Salt Lake was among four teams in MLS with one or fewer home defeats on the season.
In addition, RSL was among four MLS clubs to reach the Quarterfinal Round in CONCACAF Champions League, falling to Mexican side Tigres in the aggregate goal series.
REAL SALT LAKE 1-3 LA GALAXY
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
STUBHUB CENTER
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 0 1
LA Galaxy 3 0 3
Scoring Summary:
LA: Alan Gordon (Giovani dos Santos, Landon Donovan) 14’
RSL: Joao Plata (PK) 21’
LA: Emmanuel Boateng (Alan Gordon) 26’
LA: Emmaneul Boateng (Alan Gordon) 34’
Misconduct Summary:
RSL: Demar Phillips (Caution; Foul) 39’
RSL: Chris Wingert (Caution; Foul) 41’
LA: Baggio Husidic (Caution; Foul) 62’
RSL: Sunny (Caution; Foul) 71’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Chris Wingert (Jordan Allen 74’), Justen Glad, Chris Schuler, Demar Phillips; Kyle Beckerman, Sunny; Juan Manuel Martinez (Yura Movsisyan 58’), Javier Morales (Luke Mulholland 69’), Joao Plata; Olmes Garcia.
Substitutes not used: Lalo Fernandez, Danilo Acosta, Jamison Olave, John Stertzer.
LA Galaxy (4-2-3-1): Brian Rowe; Robbie Rogers, Jelle Van Damme, Daniel Steres, Ashley Cole; Baggio Husidic, Sebastian Lletget; Emmanuel Boateng (Mike Magee 76’), Giovani dos Santos, Landon Donovan (Jeff Larentowicz 87’); Alan Gordon (Robbie Keane 52’).
Substitutes not used: Dan Kennedy, A.J. DeLaGarza, Rafael Garcia, Dave Romney.
Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistant Referees: Matthew Nelson, Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Kevin Stott
Attendance: 18,124
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 64
