Real Salt Lake 1 at D.C. United 0
August 12-13, 2017; Washington, D.C.; RFK Stadium
Real Salt Lake (8-12-5, 29 points); D.C. United (5-15-4, 19 points)
Man of the Match: Kyle Beckerman was masterful in the midfield, combining with Sunny to snuff out any D.C. danger as the match resumed on Sunday. Whereas D.C. had eight shots in the first 28 minutes before the match was delayed overnight because of a lightning storm in the area surrounding RFK Stadium, RSL held the home side to just five shots in the final 62 minutes on Sunday. That defensive doggedness in the midfield slowed the potent creation of Luciano Acosta and allowed for RSL to stage a reversal of that early momentum and take control of the match.
Telling Stat: 210 minutes. Real Salt Lake now has shutouts in two straight matches and has not allowed a goal in the last 210 minutes. This is made all the more pertinent by the fact that when the match against D.C. resumed after the overnight delay, it restarted on a United corner kick. From that start, RSL needed to be on point defensively and showed it was up to the task.
What You Missed: A 23.5-hour delay. The match was in the 28th minute when players started leaving the field of play in what, at first, looked like a hydration break on a hot and humid evening in the nation’s capital. When they headed toward the tunnels instead of the benches, it became clear that the match would enter a delay. What was first announced as a one-hour interlude quickly changed to a plan to resume the match on Sunday. The field was covered in standing water and the halls between the field and the locker room flooded nearly two feet.
So What: RSL is now on a six game unbeaten run with three straight wins on the road. With four road matches remaining, starting on Sunday with the club’s final match against an Eastern Conference foe when the Claret-and-Cobalt meets the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo, that road form stands to keep RSL in contention for the postseason if it can turn some of those home draws into wins. The mountain to climb to the postseason will be a steep one, but the team is trending in the right direction.
