A string of three matches in the friendly confines of Rio Tinto Stadium yielded three straight draws for RSL but the next two games present opportunities for the club to really test itself on the road.
RSL will travel to the nation’s capital to face off against D.C. United, holder of the worst record in MLS, on Saturday before meeting the Montreal Impact a week later. In its last two road games RSL has toppled the LA Galaxy and the Portland Timbers in consecutive games as RSL looks for the same success on the east coast. RSL currently sits at 3-8-1 on the road in 2017 but the club looks to finish their road year on a high with results trending upward.
“I still think there is a great opportunity for us to get where we need to go point wise to the playoffs based on how the Western Conference is going,” Head Coach Mike Petke said after the scoreless draw against Houston.
After the draw against Houston it was evident that RSL was already focusing its attention to the match against United.
“Every game is important and right now the mind is on D.C.,” Nick Rimando said postgame.
Earning points against Western Conference opponents is ever important, but earning points against Eastern Conference sides can prove to be the more crucial results down the stretch. With RSL having ten games left in the 2017 regular season, it only has two more games against eastern opposition, games against D.C. and Montreal. This provides the Claret-and-Cobalt the chance to snatch points before the trench fight that is the Western Conference begins to close out the season as the push for the red line come October reaches its apex.
With the string of recent results that have seen the team go undefeated in their last five matches, focus begins to shift to tactics with teams looking to attack RSL when it is on the road.
“I think what tends to happen is when we go away the other team tries to come out and attack us and that opens the game up so it allows us to, if we’re playing well and we’re sharp, create some chances and get after them as opposed to once in a while when we’re not at our best and a team comes in and gets good numbers behind the ball, it’s hard to break down,” defender Chris Wingert said Saturday.
Those recent results against LA and Portland are evidence of RSL’s ability to break down teams in transition – a much more prevalent occurrence when RSL is on the road when teams look to get out in the attack as opposed to the bunkering approach teams have taken at Rio Tinto Stadium of late. Salt Lake will look to take advantage of similar opportunities against D.C. United and Montreal.
The team will also look to right the wrongs of 2016’s slump where it finished the season with an 0-4-3 stretch and lost its final four matches away from home, including a single playoff game on the road against the LA Galaxy to end the season.
RSL will seek a third consecutive road win on Saturday against D.C. United, with a 5 pm MT kickoff on KMYU.
