SAN JOSE, California (Saturday, July 28, 2022) – Real Salt Lake (9-7-7, 34 points) secured a late-game road point in the 2-2 draw at San Jose Earthquakes thanks to a first-half goal from Jasper Löffelsend and a stoppage-time equalizer from midfielder Jefferson Savarino.
Löffelsend’s goal marked his first as a professional, while Savarino’s was his fifth in seven games since returning to the Club. Meanwhile, defender Andrew Brody earned his third assist of the year, and wingers Justin Meram and Anderson Julio recorded their seventh and second assists of the year, respectively, for their assistance in the stoppage-time equalizer.
Real Salt Lake struggled to maintain possession early in the first half, leading to several chances from the Earthquakes. In the 10th minute the home side was awarded a penalty kick for an unfortunate hand ball on defender Justen Glad inside the penalty box. Midfielder Cristian Espinoza buried his shot from the spot to take the early 1-0 lead for San Jose. The Claret-and-Cobalt made quick work to generate a response, leveling the score 10 minutes later when Brody found a streaking Löffelsend who was able to chip goalkeeper JT Marcinowski for the equalizer. Despite earning less of the possession, it was Real Salt Lake who generated the better opportunities at goal during the remainder of the first half, but none were able to find the back of the net and the score remained level at 1-1 .
In the opening minutes of the second half forward Sergio Cordova nearly gave Real Salt Lake the lead, but his breakaway run and ensuing shot on an open goal was saved off the line by a San Jose defender. San Jose began to gain more momentum, pressing towards goal and pestering RSL’s backline. In the 62nd minute the Earthquakes were finally able to breakthrough, taking advantage of a bad giveaway and setting up an easy finish for Jeremy Ebobisse to take the 2-1 lead. Second-half substitute Rubio Rubin looked to level things in the 87th minute, but Marcinowski made a point-blank save to preserve San Jose’s lead.
In the dying moments of the match Julio found Meram sprinting down the left side, towards the endline. Meram was able to cut back and find Savarino at the top of the penalty box, Savarino chested the ball down and hit a side-volley rocket through the extended arms of the goalkeeper and into the upper-left corner to secure the late-game equalizer.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake returns home to Rio Tinto Stadium to host the league-leading LAFC on Saturday, August 6 at 8:30 p.m. MT.
GOAL SCORING SUMMARY:
SJ: Cristian Espinoza (PK) 12th minute: After being awarded a penalty kick for a hand ball in the box on Justen Glad, Espinoza stepped up and burried his shot from the spot into the bottom-left corner.
RSL: Jasper Löffelsend (Andrew Brody) 21st minute: Brody, sprinting down the field, floated a short pass over his defender to the feet of Löffelsend who controlled the pass and ran past his defender. Streaking towards goals Löffelsend chipped the goalkeeper, sneaking his shot into the right side of the goal.
SJ: Jeremy Ebobisse (Cristian Espinozo) 62nd minute: Looking to clear the ball, MacMath’s clearing pass went directly to Espinoza who found Ebobisse running towards goal. Ebobisse received the pass, turned and sent a shot through the legs of MacMath.
RSL: Jefferson Savarino (Justin Meram, Anderson Julio) 90+5th minute: Julio slipped a pass to Meram who drove down to the endline before cutting back to send a cross up towards the top of the penalty box. Savarino chested the ball downwards and side-volleyed a rocket of a shot into the upper-left corner.
NOTES:
- Bobby Wood (abductor), Tate Schmitt (knee) and Damir Kreilach (back) were unavailable due to injury.
- Midfielder Pablo Ruiz was unavailable due to yellow card accumulation.
- Midfielder Jasper Löffelsend’s 21st minute goal marked both his first for Real Salt Lake and as a professional.
Match: Real Salt Lake vs San Jose Earthquakes
Date: July 23, 2022
Venue: PayPal Park, San Jose, California
Weather: Cloudy and 70
Attendance: 20,132
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
San Jose Earthquakes 1 1 2
SJ: Cristian Espinoza 12’
RSL: Jasper Löffelsend (Andrew Brody) 21’
SJ: Jeremy Ebobisse (Cristian Espinozo) 62’
RSL: Jefferson Savarino (Justin Meram, Anderson Julio) 90+5’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-4-2): Zac MacMath; Aaron Herrera, Justen Glad, Marcelo Silva; Andrew Brody; Maikel Chang (Anderson Julio 62’), Nick Besler (Scott Caldwell 62’), Jasper Löffelsend (Diego Luna 75’), Justin Meram; Jefferson Savarino, Sergio Cordova (Rubio Rubin 75’)
Subs not used: Tomas Gomez, Erik Holt, Johan Kappelhof, Bode Hidalgo
San Jose Earthquakes (4-3-3): JT Marcinowski; Nathan, Tanner Beason, Tommy Thompson (Paul Maire 65’), Marcos Lopez; Eric Remedi (Jan Gregus 65’), Jackson Yueill, Jamiro Monteiro; Cristian Espinoza (Cade Cowell 79’), Jeremy Ebobisse (Shea Salinas 90+2’), Benji Kikanovic (Ousseni Bouda 79’)
Subs not used: Matt Bersano, Jack Skahan, Oskar Agren, Judson
Stats Summary: RSL / SJ
Shots: 12 / 14
Shots on Goal: 6 / 4
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 2 / 5
Fouls: 17 / 11
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Justen Glad (caution) 12’
RSL: Zac MacMath (caution) 15’
RSL: Maikel Chang (caution) 37’
SJ: Cristian Espinoza (caution) 45+2’
SJ: Jackson Yueill (caution) 85’
SJ: Head Coach Alex Covelo (caution) 86’
SJ: Jan Gregus (caution) 90+5’
RSL: Jefferson Savarino (caution) 90+6’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistant Referees: Micheal Barwegen, Felisha Mariscal
4th Official: Brandon Stevis
VAR: Alex Chilowicz
