VANCOUVER, B.C. (Wednesday, July 13, 2016) – Real Salt Lake controlled extended stretches of its match on Wednesday against Vancouver Whitecaps FC, but missed opportunities on one end and a fortunate bounce and a wonder strike on the other meant a 2-0 defeat at BC Place.
Vancouver was the recipient of an own goal and Cristian Techera scored a wonder goal in a three-minute stretch and RSL couldn’t find its way on the scoreboard, falling to 8-6-5 on the season while remaining in third in the Western Conference, though now just one point separates third from sixth.
Real Salt Lake was the aggressor for the first 30 minutes, but could not break through against what had been a leaky Vancouver defense, holding a 4-1 shooting advantage through the first half-hour.
RSL had an early scoring chance narrowly saved by Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted. In the 15th minute RSL got into the box and in a scrum for the ball FW Olmes Garcia headed a pass to FW Yura Movsisyan for a snap-header that was pawed off the line by Ousted and cleared by Kendall Waston.
In the 22nd minute, MF Omar Holness nearly opened his account with a booming shot from the edge of the 18. DF Tony Beltran sent in a rolling cross from the right side and Holness thumped his first-time shot just over the crossbar.
However, Vancouver would take the lead when Christian Bolanos motored up the right side and whipped in a dangerous cross. With bodies crashing at the goal, Beltran attempted to clear the ball, but it caromed off of DF Justen Glad and into the net for an own goal, putting RSL behind 1-0 in the 34th minute.
Three minutes later, Techera would make it 2-0 on a blistering shot from distance. On a ball bouncing from right to left 22 yards out, Techera uncorked a twisting left-footed shot through traffic that faded into the corner of the net, just out of the reach of GK Jeff Attinella for his second goal of the season in the 37th minute.
After outshooting Vancouver 4-2 in the first half, RSL held a 9-3 advantage in the second half, with no opportunity coming closer than a last-minute effort by Movsisyan who ripped a shot off the crossbar in stoppage time as RSL was shutout for just the fourth time this season.
RSL returns to Rio Tinto Stadium, where it is unbeaten at 5-0-3 this year, to face the New England Revolution on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT.
GAME NOTES – VANvRSL
- MF Kyle Beckerman missed the match on Wednesday while serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation. RSL also played without DF Jamison Olave (calf), DF Demar Phillips (hamstring), MF Sunday Stephen (fractured orbital) and FW Joao Plata (hamstring).
- Real Salt Lake is 0-9-4 across all competitions on turf since the start of the 2014 season, including a 0-1-2 mark in the 2016 season after draws against Orlando City SC and the Portland Timbers in the first two road matches of the regular season.
- Wednesday was the fourth regular season start this year for GK Jeff Attinella. All four matches have come on the road and he has posted a 1-3-0 record with a 1.50 goals against average. He has made 10 starts in each of the last two seasons, primarily taking over while GK Nick Rimando has been away on international duty.
REAL SALT LAKE 0-2 VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2016
BC PLACE
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 0 0
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 0 2
Scoring Summary:
VAN: Justen Glad (OG) 34’
VAN: Cristian Techera (Christian Bolanos) 37’
Misconduct Summary:
RSL: Jordan Allen (Caution; Foul) 13’
VAN: Andrew Jacobson (Caution; Foul) 25’
RSL: Tony Beltran (Caution; Foul) 28’
VAN: Kendall Waston (Caution; Foul) 54’
RSL: Luke Mulholland (Caution; Foul) 59’
RSL: Olmes Garcia (Caution; Foul) 74’
VAN: Marcel de Jong (Caution; Foul) 89’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Jeff Attinella; Tony Beltran, Aaron Maund, Justen Glad, Chris Wingert (Boyd Okwuonu 88’); Luke Mulholland (Javier Morales 65’), John Stertzer; Jordan Allen (Juan Manuel Martinez 65’), Omar Holness, Olmes Garcia; Yura Movsisyan.
Substitutes not used: Nick Rimando, Phanuel Kavita.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-2-3-1): David Ousted; Jordan Smith, Tim Parker, Kendall Waston, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Andrew Jacobson; Cristian Techera (Marcel de Jong 66’), Nicolas Mezquida (Pedro Morales 76’), Christian Bolanos; Masato Kudo (Erik Hurtado 71’).
Substitutes not used: Paolo Tornaghi, Fraser Aird, Ben McKendry, Cole Seiler.
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski, Mike Kampmeinert
Fourth Official: Baboucarr Jallow
Attendance: 22,120
Weather: Mostly sunny and 66
