CARSON, CALIF. (Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014) – Real Salt Lake’s 2014 season came to a crashing halt on Sunday at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., with a 5-0 loss to the LA Galaxy in the Western Conference Semifinals.
LA MF Landon Donovan had three goals and an assist while FW Robbie Keane had one goal and three assists as the Galaxy raced to an early lead and never looked back. After outshooting LA 16-3 in the first leg at Rio Tinto Stadium eight days earlier, RSL was outshot 19-4 on Sunday.
Salt Lake entered the match with the defensive momentum of a scoreless draw in the first leg of the series at Rio Tinto Stadium on Nov. 1. However, that momentum was halted early in the match.
RSL finally saw its shutout streak put to an end after 413 minutes when Donovan put the Galaxy in the lead in the 10th minute. LA built up the right side and MF Marcelo Sarvas led into position for a cross DF A.J. DeLaGarza crossed the ball into the box. He sent it in to Donovan for a header at the far post that found the back of the net and the Galaxy snagged a 1-0 lead.
LA continued to apply pressure and in the 20th minute, that deficit jumped to 2-0 when Keane scored for the Galaxy. MF Juninho led Donovan into the left corner of the box and he crossed to Keane at the far post for a sliding first-time shot.
The Galaxy was forced to make a substitution in the 37th minute when DF Leonardo went down with an injury and he was replaced by DF Tommy Meyer.
In the 54th minute, Donovan struck again, getting freed up the left side on a ball from Keane, touching the ball around the oncoming RSL GK Nick Rimando and lifting it into the net for his second goal of the night and a 3-0 Galaxy lead.
RSL’s first shot on goal came in the 58th minute when MF Kyle Beckerman got his head to a cross from MF Javier Morales. LA GK Jaime Penedo sprung to his right to knock down the would-be goal though and Salt Lake continue to press for that elusive first goal.
Instead, Sarvas made it 4-0 in the 63rd minute when he got into the box and pushed a shot into the box on an assist from Keane, who finished the match with one goal and three assists.
Donovan completed the hat trick in the 72nd minute, hitting an arching pass from Keane first time off the volley to make it 5-0.
The Claret-and-Cobalt finished the year with a 15-10-12 record across all competitions after finishing the season third in the Western Conference at 15-8-11 in HC Jeff Cassar’s first season in charge.
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – LA-RSL
· RSL’s shutout streak finished at 413 minutes dating, with the streak bookended by goals let in at the StubHub Center. It started back on Oct. 15 with a goal in the 47th minute in a 1-0 loss to Chivas USA and ended with Donovan’s goal in the 10th minute on Sunday.
· After making no substitutions in the first leg, RSL HC Jeff Cassar went to his bench for all three subs in the second leg, utilizing MF Luis Gil, FW Robbie Findley and FW Sebastian Jaime in the second half of the match.
· The match marked just the second time in club history that Real Salt Lake had allowed more than two goals in an MLS Cup Playoff match. The other came in a 3-1 road loss to the Galaxy in the Western Conference Final in 2011.
· Salt Lake is now 0-3-0 at the StubHub Center (previously the Home Depot Center) in MLS Cup Playoffs.
· The last time Real Salt Lake conceded a hat trick was on August 17, 2013, when LA FW Robbie Keane scored three for the Galaxy in a 4-2 defeat at the StubHub Center.
· Tonight's 5-goal loss marks the worst suffered in RSL's 21-game postseason history, and the 2nd-worst loss in the club's 376-game history across regular-season, playoff, Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League play.
· RSL lost 0-6 at New York against the MetroStars in August of 2006 in a game that saw a Jack Stewart red card just 8 minutes into the game. All 6 goals were scored in the second half.
· Entering tonight, RSL had advanced in 8 of its previous 9 road elimination games in either MLS Cup Playoffs or CONCACAF Champions League action, with the lone previous outright loss coming in Nov. 2011 at Los Angeles.
· In the 2010, 2012 and now 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs, RSL has been eliminated in the Conference Semifinal round.
· Landon Donovan's hat trick is the first conceded by RSL in its playoff history, and the 2nd multi-goal performance (Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Nov. 2009 in 3-2 W at Columbus).
· Since opening 2014 with a 1-0 road win over the Galaxy in March, RSL dropped each of its remaining 4 games in Carson, CA, a trio of 0-1 losses and tonight's 0-5 debacle.
· RSL has won 8 of its 14 all-time MLS Cup Playoff series, with an even 7-7-7 record, scoring 22 goals and conceding 24 overall.
· RSL MF Kyle Beckerman and GK Nick Rimando have each appeared in all 2,010 minutes of the club's postseason minutes over those 21 playoff games.
· RSL finished the season with a 1-9-3 road mark after World Cup camp call-ups commenced on May 14, winning only a shorthanded 1-0 decision at Rocky Mountain Cup rival Colorado in early August.
· Over the same span, RSL went 10-1-5 at home, outscoring visitors 29-12 in front of 16 consecutive capacity crowds at Rio Tinto Stadium.
· RSL set a club attendance record in 2014, with 407,694 fans spinning Rio Tinto Stadium turnstiles, for an average of 20,385 per game (17 MLS regular-season, 1 playoff, 2 exhibitions).
· Should the Los Angeles Galaxy or Seattle Sounders FC win MLS Cup on December 7, RSL would earn one of 4 U.S.-based CONCACAF Champions League slots for the 2015-16 tourney, which begins next August.
· Seattle (U.S. Open Cup winner), D.C. United (Eastern Conference reg. season champion) and Los Angeles (recipient of Seattle's Supporters Shield slot, as West runner-up) have already qualified.
LA GALAXY 5-0 REAL SALT LAKE
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014
STUBHUB CENTER
Goals by Period 1 2 F
LA Galaxy 2 3 5
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
Scoring Summary:
LA – Landon Donovan (Marcelo Sarvas, A.J. DeLaGarza) 10’.
LA – Robbie Keane (Landon Donvan, Juninho) 20’.
LA – Landon Donovan (Robbie Keane) 54’.
LA – Marcelo Sarvas (Robbie Keane, Robbie Rogers) 63’.
LA – Landon Donovan (Robbie Keane) 72’.
Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Alvaro Saborio (Yellow; Foul) 79’.
LA – Landon Donovan (Yellow; Foul) 81’.
RSL – Tony Beltran (Yellow; Foul) 86’.
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-1-2-1-2): Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert; Kyle Beckerman (C), Ned Grabavoy (Robbie Findley – 65’), Luke Mulholland (Luis Gil – 55’), Javier Morales (Sebastian Jaime – 70’); Joao Plata, Alvaro Saborio.
Substitutes not used: Jeff Attinella, Cole Grossman, Carlos Salcedo, Sebastian Velasquez.
LA Galaxy (4-4-2): Jaime Penedo; A.J. DeLaGarza, Leonardo (Tommy Meyer – 37’), Omar Gonzalez, Robbie Rogers (Dan Gargan – 75’); Landon Donovan (Alan Gordon – 83’), Juninho, Marcelo Sarvas, Stefan Ishizaki; Gyasi Zardes, Robbie Keane.
Substitutes not used: Brian Rowe, Baggio Husidic, Jose Villareal, Kenney Walker.
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Eric Boria, Adam Garner
4th Official: Juan Guzman
Attendance: 27,000
Weather: Sunny and 70 degrees
