Despite getting three goals from Alvaro Saborio, Real Salt Lake lost in stoppage time for the second consecutive match on Saturday, falling 4-3 at the New York Red Bulls.
Here are a few interesting numbers from Saturday’s match:
3
Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio scored three goals on Saturday, completing his third career MLS hat trick with a fantastic goal in the 82nd minute. After Saturday’s performance, Saborio is now first in MLS among players with more than 207 minutes played with 0.85 goals per 90 minutes.
53.8
Saborio has seven goals on only thirteen shots on target this year, good for an insane scoring percentage of 53.8 percent.
28
Real Salt Lake was whistled for 28 total fouls on Saturday, the team’s highest total of the season. The previous high for the club was 17 fouls committed in the June 1 match against the San Jose Earthquakes.
94
New York Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty scored the game-winning goal in the 94th minute of play, marking the second consecutive match where RSL has give up a go-ahead goal in stoppage time.
6
Real Salt Lake forward Joao Plata’s well-timed pass – resulting in Saborio’s third goal of the match – marked Plata’s sixth assist of the season. Plata is now tied for seventh in the league in assists.
5.5
With 6 shots on goal against New York on Saturday, the Claret-and-Cobalt increased their average shots on goal to 5.5 per game, tops in the league. The Montreal Impact are a distant second, at 5.25 shots on goal per game – an overall gap of 16 shots on target.
12
Despite having lost consecutive matches, Real Salt Lake maintains the best goal differential in the league, with a differential of +12.
7
For the second consecutive week, a match featuring Real Salt Lake resulted in a total of seven yellow cards. Saturday’s match also marked the second straight match where an RSL player has been shown a yellow card within the first five minutes of play.
0
With the completion of the Gold Cup, the Claret-and-Cobalt no longer be without the services of goalkeeper Nick Rimando, midfielder Kyle Beckerman and defender Tony Beltran, giving the team zero players out on international duty. Due to a red card suspension, however, Beltran will miss the Aug. 3 match at the Colorado Rapids.
