Real Salt Lake 1 at Montreal Impact 3
August 19, 2017; Montreal, Canada; Stade Saputo
Real Salt Lake (8-13-5, 29 points); Montreal Impact (10-8-6, 36 points)
Man of the Match: Luis Silva continued his hot streak with his third goal in the last five matches and he was unlucky not to convert on one of his other three shots in the match, hitting the post with one and forcing Evan Bush into an unorthodox save when he beat him with a nutmeg in the second half.
Telling Stat: The Impact was limited in its chances, but clinical in taking advantage of the opportunities that came. Whereas Montreal scored its three goals with four shots on goal, RSL had one goal in six shots on target.
What You Missed: With their starts on Saturday, both Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert surpassed the 20,000-minute plateau with Real Salt Lake. Beltran has remained with the Claret-and-Cobalt since being selected in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft while Wingert had a one-year hiatus in 2015 with New York City FC breaking up his 10 seasons with the club that started with a 2007 trade with the Colorado Rapids.
So What: This was RSL’s final match against an Eastern Conference opponent, with Salt Lake going 3-5-3 against the East. With the remaining eight matches coming against the Western Conference, the opportunity is there for Salt Lake to climb the standings starting on Wednesday against the San Jose Earthquakes at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL follows that up at home against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday and with five of the final eight matches at home, Mike Petke and his club will need to take advantage of that home-field edge down the stretch to remain in contention for a playoff berth.
