Real Salt Lake 0 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2
April 27, 2018; Vancouver, B.C., Canada; BC Place
Real Salt Lake (3-4-1, 10 points); Vancouver Whitecaps FC (4-4-1, 13 points)
Man of the Match: Damir Kreilach led RSL with three tackles, created two scoring chances and took two shots of his own, putting pressure on the Vancouver midfield throughout the match. He has steadily gelled with his teammates over the first eight matches and this was another indication of what he can contribute as he gets more and more accustomed to his teammates.
Telling Stat: Through the first 70 minutes of the match, Real Salt Lake outshot Vancouver 11-8 and put five shots on goal while Whitecaps FC had yet to force a save from RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando. RSL held nearly 64% of the possession during that stretch, too. And while Salt Lake controlled play over the majority of that time, the team wasn’t able to capitalize.
What You Missed: Real Salt Lake’s starting backline of Brooks Lennon (20 years old), Justen Glad (21), Nick Besler (24) and Pablo Ruiz (19) was the youngest back four in MLS history. Mike Petke has always shown a willingness to play his best lineup regardless of age, and while RSL has had some injury woes, this back four had a string of 116 consecutive minutes without allowing a shot on goal dating back to halftime of the 3-0 win over the Colorado Rapids last week.
So What: RSL is still looking for its first road win, but in outplaying Vancouver for the majority of the match, it was a step in the right direction. The team still needs to get over the final hurdle to get into the win column, so it’s another day of silver linings, but that’s not enough to keep the locker room happy. Next week will be another opportunity to break that winless trend against Orlando City SC.
