Real Salt Lake 2 vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
April 7, 2018; Sandy, Utah; Rio Tinto Stadium
Real Salt Lake (2-2-1, 7 points); Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3-2-1, 10 points)
Man of the Match: Brooks Lennon continues to do some of the little things while he is adjusting to the right back position. On Saturday he had a team-leading five tackles on the defensive side, but also got into the attack and earned the assist on the first goal of the night just before halftime. It was also notable that Luis Silva and Jefferson Savarino scored their first goals of the season and Nick Rimando made three saves to earn his 198th career MLS victory.
Telling Stat: Three points. It may have been a game that was as messy as the weather on a rainy night at Rio Tinto Stadium, but the end result of a 2-1 victory was the lasting image for Head Coach Mike Petke. While there are still things he admitted the team needs to address to get back into the form that the club closed the 2017 season with, getting three points while seeking that out showed some of the resolve and bite that he had been hoping to see in his team.
What You Missed: Twice in the first half, Petke had to look to his bench to make defensive substitutions because of injuries to Demar Phillips and Marcelo Silva. Their replacements – Adam Henley and David Horst – turned in workmanlike efforts to mesh with their defensive cohorts and help lock up the victory, drawing praise from Petke after the match.
So What: Thus far, RSL has earned seven points from five matches while facing three of the four MLS teams that were in CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. While seven points isn’t where the club hoped to be, it also has RSL behind only two teams in the Western Conference. It will be a quick turnaround for RSL as a cross-country flight for a meeting with the unbeaten Eastern Conference leaders in NYCFC on Wednesday. With short rest and an already depleted back line, it will undoubtedly be a stiff test in the confined spaces of the field at Yankee Stadium.
