Real Salt Lake 1 vs Atlanta United FC 3
April 22, 2017; Sandy, Utah; Rio Tinto Stadium
Real Salt Lake (2-4-2, 8 points); Atlanta United FC (3-2-2, 11 points)
Man of the Match: Kyle Beckerman. Albert Rusnák’s second-half goal to cut the lead to 2-1 looked to shift things in favor of Real Salt Lake as the team was buzzing and the crowd was exploding in support. The captain’s four tackles were second on the night to Luke Mulholland’s five and while the equalizer never came, Head Coach Mike Petke credited Beckerman as being a vocal leader on the field that kept the team engaged and focused even down two goals.
Telling Stat: Statistically, Atlanta dominated possession through the first 20 minutes of the match and while the balance of possession shifted toward RSL in the remainder of the match, that had more to do with Atlanta’s tactical shift to protect a 1-0, then 2-0 advantage, than a real change in momentum.
What You Missed: Nick Rimando left the match in the 58th minute due to injury. It was the first time he had not completed a match that he started for RSL since May 2, 2009, when a finger injury forced him out of a 2-0 defeat to the Colorado Rapids. He had finished 222 straight starts since then and for a player that plays as fearlessly and aggressively as Rimando, that’s a testament to his fortitude.
So What: This was RSL’s first home loss to an expansion club since 2007, when Toronto FC came to Rice Eccles Stadium on July 4 and left with a 2-1 victory. And as Petke has said, results aren’t as important to him as the process and within that process there will be peaks and valleys and plateaus, progress and setbacks. After the match, Petke said, “I told you guys it doesn’t matter if we won or lost, it’s a building process. This does nothing to put a kink in what we are trying to do. It is the same as if we won 3-1 tonight. It doesn’t change anything with how we are proceeding going forward. You know at the end of the day it’s a good learning curve for us and we are going into a very tough game next week versus Kansas City.”
