ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Wednesday, May 8, 2024) - Real Salt Lake suffered elimination in its initial 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup contest, dropping a 4-2 decision to New Mexico United after the USL Championship side fired off three first-half goals.
Both teams started slow, sizing each other up as RSL fielded a lineup with eight players rotated from Saturday’s home victory over Sporting KC. Though RSL dominated possession to start, it would be New Mexico United that created the first chance of the match. Intercepting the ball during Real’s building, New Mexico quickly cycled it to Marco Micaletto in the center of the attacking third. He held up play and laid it off to a charging Sergio Rivas for a point-blank shot, only kept out of the net by an acrobatic save from Gavin Beavers.
Tasting blood, New Mexico maintained pressure to break through for the 18th minute opener. The New Mexico defense played a long, elevated ball to Rivas on the right wing, who found Zico Bailey charging through the middle of the pitch with a one-touch headed pass. Enjoying a large amount of space as the RSL defense recovered, Bailey took three touches and ripped a cross-body shot with his right foot from outside the box, narrowly beating the outstretched glove of Beavers to give New Mexico a 1-0 advantage.
Without giving RSL a chance to breathe, New Mexico bagged a second goal just 22 seconds after kickoff from the first. As Real Salt Lake played it back from the reset, NMU intercepted a sloppy pass and immediately fed it to Dayonn Harris on the left side of the box. Marked, he passed to Bailey at the top of the box for the shot. This time electing to take a single touch, he scored nearly an identical goal as his strike from a minute earlier, opting for a low, driven shot into the corner netting on Beavers’ right side.
Real Salt Lake composed themselves following the rapid-fire goals, creating a run of chances. The first came in the 26th minute as Fidel Barajas controlled in the center of the park. Diego Luna came deep to receive the ball before firing it to Zavier Gozo in the center of the box. Gozo took a crafty touch with his right to split the defenders before getting off the shot, only to be denied by a kick-save from Alex Tambakis. Real nearly got one back in the 29th as Braian Ojeda tried his luck with a curled shot from distance, narrowly sailing over the crossbar.
Then, Real’s pressure paid off with a goal in the 35th minute. Squaring up for the goal kick, Beavers played it long and high down the left sign as Tommy Silva elevated over his marker to win the header and send it back into the air down the pitch. Gozo then leapt above the last defender on the left side and flicked it forward for Barajas as he streaked into the box. One-on-one with only the ‘keeper to beat, Barajas opted for a risky shot, scoring to United’s far post as the tight angle left him no margin for error.
As the whistle for halftime loomed, New Mexico struck again with a stoppage-time goal. Winning the ball deep in RSL territory, Daniel Bruce quickly passed to Nicky Hernandez in the center of the attacking third. Creating space from his defender with a quick change of direction, Hernandez flipped his hips and ripped a shot at the near post from distance, flying past a diving Beavers and into the corner.
Coming out from halftime flying around the pitch, Real Salt Lake fired back immediately to cut the deficit in half. Receiving it from Philip Quinton in the 49th minute, Anderson Julio used his body to shield the ball from a crowd of defenders on the left side. Creating space from the traffic, he accelerated through a turn and passed to Luna as he waited in the middle of the pitch. Taking two quick touches as he turned towards goal, Luna ripped a low shot into the back of the net from outside the box to the goalkeeper’s right and into the back of the net.
Both teams struggled to create chances for the next 35 minutes as Real Salt Lake dominated possession in search of the equalizer. Earning an 85th-minute free kick deep in the corner in RSL territory, Micaletto played short to Mukwelle Akale who promptly whipped it across the center. One player let it go by as Hernandez took one touch and shot from distance. His attempt connected with the crossbar and shot back into play, falling directly to the feet of Jacobo Reyes, who promptly deposited the easy finish.
RSL 2 : 4 NMU
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
NMU - 18’ Zico Bailey (Sergio Rivas): The New Mexico defense played a long, elevated ball to Rivas on the right wing, who found Bailey charging through the middle of the pitch with a one-touch headed pass. Enjoying a large amount of space as the RSL defense recovered, Bailey took three touches and ripped a cross-body shot with his right foot from outside the box, narrowly beating the outstretched glove of Beavers to give New Mexico a 1-0 advantage.
NMU - 19’ Zico Bailey (Dayonn Harris): As Real Salt Lake played it back from the reset, NMU intercepted a sloppy pass and immediately fed it to Harris on the left side of the box. Marked, he passed to Bailey at the top of the box for the shot. This time electing to take a single touch, he scored nearly an identical goal as his strike from a minute earlier, opting for a low, driven shot into the corner netting on Beavers’ right side.
RSL - 35’ Fidel Barajas (Zavier Gozo): Squaring up for the goal kick, Beavers played it long and high down the left sign as Tommy Silva elevated over his marker to win the header and send it back into the air down the pitch. Gozo then leapt above the last defender on the left side and flicked it forward for Fidel Barajas as he streaked into the box. One-on-one with only the ‘keeper to beat, Barajas opted for a risky shot, scoring to (insert name)’s far post as the tight angle left him no margin for error.
NMU - 45+5 Nicky Hernandez (Daniel Bruce): Winning the ball deep in RSL territory, Bruce quickly passed to Hernandez in the center of the attacking third. Creating space from his defender with a quick change of direction, Hernandez flipped his hips and ripped a shot at the near post from distance, flying past a diving Beavers and into the corner.
RSL - 49’ Diego Luna (Anderson Julio): Receiving it from Philip Quinton in the 49th minute, Anderson Julio used his body to shield the ball from a crowd of defenders on the left side. Creating space from the traffic, he accelerated through a turn and passed to Diego Luna as he waited in the middle of the pitch. Taking two quick touches as he turned towards goal, Luna ripped a low shot into the back of the net from outside the box to the goalkeeper’s right and into the back of the net.
NMU - 85’ Jacobo Reyes: Earning an 85th-minute free kick deep in the corner in RSL territory, Micaletto played short to Akale who promptly whipped it across the center. One player let it go by as Hernandez took one touch and shot from distance. His attempt connected with the crossbar and shot back into play, falling directly to the feet of Reyes who promptly deposited the easy finish.
RSL v NMU NOTES:
- Real Salt Lake’s Tommy Silva, Philip Quinton, and Zavier Gozo each earned their first-ever starts for RSL, with Chang earning his first start this season, also wearing the captain’s armband; for Silva and Gozo, it was their first RSL minutes of the year.
- Real Salt Lake entered the tournament at the Round of 32 stage, making this exit the 8th opening-round loss in the Club’s 20-year Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup history.
- Bode Hidalgo, typically a wide back and winger, played his second match at centerback for Pablo Mastroeni, with his only other appearance at CB coming in Salt Lake’s 4-0 trouncing of Chicago Fire back on April 20.
- Teenage homegrown Zavier Gozo earned an assist with a 36th minute headed pass to Fidel Barajas in his first ever first-team start.
- Emeka Eneli, Chicho Arango, Bode Hidalgo and Andrew Brody all earned minutes, keeping them as the only four RSL players to have appeared in every competitive match this season.
- The loss snapped RSL’s streaks of three consecutive wins and seven matches unbeaten across all competitions that dated back to April 13 and March 9, respectively.
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Gavin Beavers; Philip Quinton, Bode Hidalgo (Justen Glad, 82’); Tommy Silva (Alex Katranis, 72’); Braian Ojeda (Emeka Eneli, 60’); Andrew Brody; Nelson Palacio; Diego Luna; Zavier Gozo (Anderson Julio, 44’ - Chicho Arango, 82’); Maikel Chang © (Bertin Jacquesson, 60’); Fidel Barajas
Subs not used: Zac MacMath
New Mexico United (4-2-3-1): Alex Tambakis; Jon Talen Maples; Anthony Herbert; Zico Bailey; Arturo Astorga; Sergio Rivas (Greg Hurst, 58’); Dayonn Harris; Nicky Hernandez (Jackson Dubois, 90’); Nanan Houssou (Jacobo Reyes, 69’); Daniel Bruce (Marco Micaletto, 58’); Abdi Mohamed
Subs not used: Avionne Flanagan, Kris Shakes
Stats Summary: RSL / NMU
Shots: 10 / 10
Shots on Goal: 5 / 6
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 3 / 4
Fouls: 8 / 19
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Bode Hidalgo (Yellow), Diego Luna (Yellow), Alex Katranis (Yellow), 8 Total Fouls
NMU: Talen Maples (Yellow), Zico Bailey (Yellow), Nicky Hernandez (Yellow), 19 Total Fouls
