Real Salt Lake 0 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4
August 8, 2015; BC Place
Real Salt Lake (7-9-8, 29 points); Vancouver Whitecaps FC (13-8-3, 42 points)
Man of the Match: Jeff Attinella has faced some difficult matches this season. He made five saves on the night against Vancouver and it was the fifth time this season he has made five or more saves in a match. In eight matches this season, he has made 38 saves.
Telling Stat: 22.7. The average age of Real Salt Lake’s starting lineup was just 22.7 years old. With a rigorous schedule of five matches in 15 days, Head Coach Jeff Cassar needed to rotate his lineup to keep his team fresh heading into the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday before the final match in the busy stretch on Saturday against the Portland Timbers. That meant getting playing time to RSL’s youth and while the result was far from ideal, it was a good learning opportunity for those young players.
What You Missed: Real Salt Lake had three Homegrown players in the starting lineup for the first time in club history. Forward Sebastian Saucedo made his first MLS start and defender Phanuel Kavita was making just his second career MLS start. Justen Glad, meanwhile, has six starts to his credit.
So What: 4-0 was a difficult result to stomach and RSL will be without Cassar and defender Abdoulie Mansally in the next MLS match on Saturday against Portland, as Cassar was dismissed in the first half and Mansally was red-carded late in the match. However, with a rested group, RSL is set up for a huge match on Wednesday against Sporting Kansas City in the Open Cup semifinal.
