The primary objective wasn’t necessarily for Real Salt Lake to win the first preseason matchup on Saturday against the LA Galaxy in Tucson, Arizona. However, if the team played the way Head Coach Mike Petke intended and executed the other objectives he laid forth, the victory seemed inevitable. So after a 3-1 win over the Galaxy at Kino Stadium, Petke was understandably pleased with the performance.
“We had certain objectives today and the majority of them were defensively,” Petke said. “Not all of them were met, but a large majority of them were met and that’s huge for us.”
Petke split his team into two units, playing the majority of the players for 45 minutes in their first tests against an MLS opponent. Going toe-to-toe with a retooled LA Galaxy roster that saw five starters that were new to the club, the first 30 minutes ended scoreless before a fresh group came on for the Galaxy.
RSL spent the majority of that time pressing in the right areas defensively and recovering well to limit LA’s chances in the offensive third. Meanwhile, Joao Plata was a persistent force on the offensive end, attacking up the left side with deft tact to create two prime chances.
Later in the second half, the defensive side never wavered while Sebastian Saucedo, Nick Besler and Sebastian Velasquez – who is among five Real Monarchs players along for the second leg of preseason in Arizona – all scored to lead the comeback win.
“I thought the team, all-around, did well. We tried to put into practice the things we’ve been doing with our coaches in the week we’ve been here. It was a positive result and we all saw positives coming out of the game today,” defender Adam Henley said. “We’re going against an MLS team and it put everyone in the mindset that we just want to win everything we do. It doesn’t matter if it’s preseason. It’s a positive that we came out of the back of this winning while putting into practice the things we’ve been working on. There’s still a way to go, but this is a good place for us.”
Injury Update
RSL played without a few key players on Saturday and Petke explained the absences after the match. Winger Jefferson Savarino stayed behind in Utah after undergoing surgery on the morning of January 26 to remove his appendix. He is expected to rejoin the team in Orlando, but has resumed running.
Meanwhile, Albert Rusnák and Marcelo Silva were both held out for precautionary reasons.
“It’s not the time to push these players and get an injury,” Petke explained.
In Silva’s place, Danny Acosta started at center back as opposed to his typical spot at left back. It was a move with an eye on difficult situations later in the season, as RSL suffered a rash of injuries and absences all at one time last season and Petke wants to be prepared if that arises again in 2018.
“We just decided this year to be very proactive. I know Danny can play left back. We don’t want to get in a situation where we are scrambling to find a center back,” he said. “Danny has played center back before … he’s played alongside Justen before. We wanted to see that pairing for future consideration.”
Homecoming for Glad and Others
Up until last summer, Real Salt Lake’s Academy teams made their home in Casa Grande, Arizona. With eight Homegrown players on the MLS roster, the trip to Tucson was a bit of a homecoming for many of those players, including Justen Glad. The Tucson native returned from his first U.S. National Team camp in time to make the full trip to Arizona and had a veritable meet and greet after the match at Kino Stadium.
“It’s awesome. I’ve got a lot of friends and family in the crowd,” he smiled. “They don’t get to see me play in person often. I enjoy it. They enjoy it. It’s a good time.”
