SANDY, Utah (Saturday, March 23, 2024) - Real Salt Lake (2-2-1, 7 pts, 5th West MLS) completed a 2-1 comeback victory at Vancouver with a pair of second-half goals in the Club’s first meeting against former captain Damir Kreilach. Two RSL players making their first MLS starts - teenager Fidel Barajas and former Greek youth international Alex Katranis - led the way with two assists and the game-winning goal, respectively.
RSL heads back to America First Field next weekend for a home showdown with St. Louis CITY SC in the return leg of the teams’ 1-1 draw on Feb. 24 at CITY Park. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, March 30, with tickets available at www.RSL.com/tickets.
Tonight’s festivities opened with RSL’s first touches in the attacking third coming in the form of a one-two between 17-year-old Fidel Barajas on the wing and Anderson Julio up top, both new ideas to Salt Lake’s attacking formation. Despite dominating the possession and pace of play throughout the entirety of the first 45 with scintillating midfield play and a rabid high press, concrete scoring chances were hard to come by for RSL.
The first good look at goal for RSL came in the 14th minute as a stoppage of play on the RSL half of the field was quickly flipped when a progressive ball was played to Chicho Arango on the run the other way, creating a four-on-three for the Claret-and-Cobalt out of thin air. Arango played the ball wide right for Bode Hidalgo, taking it deep into the box and playing a ball back across the box for one of Arango, Barajas and* Julio*, but nobody was able to connect.
RSL would continue to dominate the play, covering up every home white jersey on the pitch, until Vancouver started to manufacture their first chances of the match around the half-hour mark. Their first threatening move came in the 26th minute, as Ryan Raposo raced up the right wing, cutting back onto his left for a curled shot over the left shoulder of RSL’s Zac MacMath and just over the corner of goal. Then, immediately following another Vancouver chance in the 28th minute as a Brian White glancing header nearly missed its target, Claret-and-Cobalt hearts raced as a pacey ball from Braian Ojeda through every level of the defense and onto the feet of Anderson Julio left him face-to-face with the goalkeeper, only to be called back for offsides.
Then, against the run of play, Vancouver broke the tie in the 33rd minute. The chance appeared as Vancouver leapt down the left side with a ball from Pedro Vite to Ryan Gauld who, holding up play as his teammates formed in the middle, transferred possession to White. Then timing his run perfectly, Kreliach received the ball at his feet as he snuck behind the RSL defensive line, collecting his first goal against his former club with a clinical finish over the left shoulder of MacMath. Changing up the trend, Kreilach previously had seven goals in nine games for RSL against Vancouver.
As the second half kicked off, Real Salt Lake continued to dominate through their imposing press. The first chance of the second 45 came quickly, as Barajas nearly collected his first MLS goal in the 54th minute. Arango blitzed down the right wing, playing a rapid ball to Julio in the middle. Marked, Julio found Barajas all alone on the corner of the box for a cross-body shot that made impact with the post and redirected back into play. Then, in a deja vu moment just one minute later, another pinged pass from the right side made its way to the feet of Barajas on the edge of the box, this time from Hidalgo, and once again his shot clattered off the goalpost.
Looking for the equalizer with an unrelenting pressure at every corner of the pitch, Salt Lake broke through for the equalizer in the 70th minute. Arango controlled the ball at his feet in the middle of the park, gradually making progress as his teammates swirled up the pitch before finding Barajas as he surged up the left side. Receiving the ball in stride, he cut through Vancouver defenders while keeping his head up, allowing him to find his striker in the middle of the box and play a beautiful ball to the feet of Julio, who slotted the equalizer just inside the right post.
Maintaining the pressure, even with the equalizer fresh in their pocket, Salt Lake converted their momentum into a lead with a 76th minute goal. Arango possessed the ball on the right side, surveying the pitch before switching the play across to Barajas deep on the left side of the box. Controlling the ball with a masterful touch, Barajas played a regressive ball to Katranis, also in his first RSL start, on the left corner of the box who curled a beautiful one-time strike over the head of Vancouver’s Takaoka and into the back of the net.
Despite a barrage of late-game pressure from Vancouver, the lead held for Salt Lake as it secured the three points in the Club’s only scheduled trip to BC Place this season.
Tactically, the two sides couldn’t have lined up with more contrasting philosophies. Real Salt Lake’s game was defined by two things, pressure and fluidity. The fluidity and flexibility of Manager Pablo Mastroeni’s new system was on full display as multiple players took on ever-changing roles throughout the match. Typically up top as a striker but played deeper in today’s iteration of Mastroeni’s tactic, Arango often found himself as a creator in the middle and on the right wing for RSL, the spot from which he started both attacking moves that led to a goal. Other players, like Katranis and Ojeda, flowed seamlessly throughout the various levels of RSL’s approach. This fluidity allowed for beautiful overlapping play as midfielders and fullbacks alike filtered up and around Salt Lake’s wide attacking players to create chances on the counter. All of this was made possible by the consistency of Brayan Vera and Justen Glad at the back, asked to contribute to the play simultaneously as both ball-playing center backs involved in the build-up and as imposing ball-winning defenders at the last line of defense.
Vancouver, although on the back foot for a majority of the match, was stylistically defined by long, direct play of the ball and midfield density. Unlike RSL, Vancouver were more than happy to allow the RSL back line to possess the ball, simply daring them to play a ball long into the midfield- evident in RSL’s 55% share of possession. They were largely unable to form an offensive identity throughout the game, often opting for aerial chances with Kreilach in the box or one-time risky through-balls to a player darting behind the defense.
Tonight’s victory brings the early 2024 RSL season record to 2-2-1 / 7 points. RSL heading back to America First Field next weekend for a home showdown with St. Louis CITY SC for the return leg of the teams’ 1-1 draw on Feb. 24 at CITY Park, with tickets available at www.RSL.com/tickets.
RSL 2 : 1 VAN
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
VAN: Damir Kreilach, 33rd Minute (Brian White): The chance appeared as Vancouver leapt down the left side with a ball from Pedro Vite to Ryan Gauld who, holding up play as his teammates formed in the middle, transferred possession to White. Timing his run perfectly, Damir Kreliach received the ball at his feet from White as he snuck behind the RSL defensive line, collecting his first goal against his former club with a clinical finish over the left shoulder of MacMath.
RSL: Anderson Julio, 70th Minute (Fidel Barajas): Arango controlled the ball at his feet in the middle of the pitch, gradually making progress as his teammates swirled up the pitch before finding Barajas as he surged up the left side. Receiving the ball in stride, Barajas cut through Vancouver defenders while keeping his head up, allowing him to find his striker in the middle of the box and play a beautiful ball to the feet of Julio, who slotted the equalizer just inside the right post.
RSL: Alex Katranis, 76th Minute (Fidel Barajas): Arango possessed the ball on the right side, surveying the pitch before switching the play across to Barajas deep on the left side of the box. Controlling the ball with a masterful touch, Barajas played a regressive ball to Alex Katranis, also in his first RSL start, on the left corner of the box who curled a beautiful one-time strike over the head of Vancouver’s Takaoka and into the back of the net.
RSL at VANCOUVER NOTES:
- RSL improved to 18 wins and 10 draws against just 9 losses in “bounce back” games following a loss in the 105 games played across all competitions since August, 2021, when Pablo Mastroeni assumed the Club’s head coaching reins
- Homegrown defender and hometown favorite, defender Justen Glad, became just the 6th player in Real Salt Lake victory to surpass 19,000 minutes, with the mark coming in the 74th minute.
- 17-year-old homegrown attacking midfielder Fidel Barajas collected both assists in his first ever MLS start, becoming just the sixth player in MLS’ 29-year history to boast a multi-assist game at 17 years or younger.
- Freshly signed Greek defender Alex Katranis nets the game-winning goal in his first start for the Claret-and-Cobalt.
- Tonight’s victory marked the first time RSL has faced former captain Damir Kreilach since his departure following last season. Prior to joining the Whitecaps, Kreilach had a record of seven goals in nine games against Vancouver in an RSL shirt.
- Mastroeni made SIX personnel and THREE positional changes to the XI that started in the 1-2 home loss two weeks ago against Colorado; with MF Diego Luna and FW Andrés Gómez away on international duty, Barajas and Katranis started, along with Julio … Zac MacMath replaced Beavers in goal, while Braian Ojeda returned to the XI following his suspension last week … Justen Glad returned at centerback after his one-game injury hiatus, while Andrew Brody, Bode Hidalgo and Chicho Arango each lined up in new spots as part of RSL’s 3-2-4-1 attacking shape
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (3-4-3): Zac MacMath, Brayan Vera, Justen Glad (Marcelo Silva, 90+6), Andrew Brody, Bode Hidalgo (Matt Crooks, 86), Braian Ojeda, Emeka Eneli, Alex Katranis (Brian Ovideo, 85), Fidel Barajas (Nelson Palacio, 90), Chicho Arango, Anderson Julio (Maikel Chang, 83)
Subs not used: Erik Holt, Daron Iskendarian, Zavier Gozo, Tomas Gomez
Colorado Rapids (3-4-3): Takaoka, Laborda, Veselinovic, Blackmon, Brown (Martins, 66), Schopf (Berhalter, 66), Vite, Raposo (Utvik, 86), White (Ahmed, 56), Gauld, Kreilach (Johnson, 74)
Subs not used: Halbouni, Priso, Bendik, Boehmer
Stats Summary: RSL / VAN
Shots: 21 / 7
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Saves: 2 / 2
Corner Kicks: 4 / 1
Fouls: 9 / 7
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Yellow (Katranis, 47); Yellow (Vera, 90+7); Yellow (MacMath, 90+10); 9 Total Fouls
VAN: 0 Cards; 7 Total Fouls
