CHESTER, Pennsylvania (Saturday, May 19, 2018) – Real Salt Lake (4-6-1, 13 points) remained winless on the road in 2018 after a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union at Talen Energy Stadium on Saturday.
MF Damir Kreilach scored his third goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough to stage a comeback as RSL suffered its first loss to the Union in 11 matches since Philadelphia joined MLS in 2010.
Through the first 19 minutes of the match, RSL played Philadelphia toe-to-toe, putting four shots on goal during that stretch and forcing Union goalkeeper Andre Blake to show his meddle. Then in the 21st minute, the Union broke through with the first goal of the match. Fafa Picault ran up the left side, then sent a ball through the box to Marcus Epps for a first-time shot that found the back of the net. The Union continued its onslaught into the 34th minute when Borek Dockal doubled the lead when he lofted a chip shot over the on-rushing Nick Rimando on a breakout up the right side and the match went into halftime at 2-0.
In the second half, FW Sebastian Saucedo replaced DF Adam Henley to add more to the attack and early on it bore fruit as Saucedo took two shots early in the second half before assisting on Kreilach’s goal in the 65th minute. However, the comeback effort would stop there, as Philadelphia added goals in the 74th minute from Ilsinho and 81st minute from Keegan Rosenberry to put the match out of reach at 4-1.
The loss drops RSL to 0-5-1 on the road after the fifth consecutive road defeat. Salt Lake is now winless in its last 10 road matches dating back to last season.
UP NEXT: RSL will conclude a stretch of four road matches in five games against Seattle Sounders FC on May 26 at CenturyLink Field. It will be the first of two matches against Seattle in eight days, as the Sounders visit Rio Tinto Stadium on June 2.
GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:
PHI: Marcus Epps (Fafa Picault), 21st minute – Fafa Picault got out on the break up the left side, sending the ball across the goal mouth to Marcus Epps closing from the right side. He hit a first-time shot that found the net for a 1-0 Philadelphia lead.
PHI: Borek Dockal (Alejandro Bedoya, Marcus Epps) 34th minute – On the counterattack, Alejandro Bedoya led Borek Dockal up the right side. He drew Nick Rimando off his line and then lofted his shot over the on-rushing goalkeeper and into the net to make it 2-0.
RSL: Damir Kreilach (Sebastian Saucedo) 65th minute – Sebastian Saucedo worked his way to the endline up the left side of the box, then dropped the ball back. Corey Baird dummied the ball through and Damir Kreilach slotted it home for his third goal of the season to make it 2-1.
PHI: Ilsinho (Borek Dockal, Marcus Epps) 74th minute – Borek Dockal got free on an overlapping run up the left side, then found Ilsinho in the middle of the box and he got his boot to the pass to poke it into the open net to make it 3-1.
PHI: Keegan Rosenberry (Ilsinho, Bork Dockal) 81st minute – Keegan Rosenberry fired a low, hard shot through traffic to sneak it past Nick Rimando to make it 4-1.
KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS:
PHI: Andre Blake, 10th minute – On a good buildup for RSL, the ball swung to the left side of the box where Jefferson Savarino ripped a shot that forced Andre Blake into a diving parry, pushing the ball wide. Brooks Lennon was nearly there for the putback but the ball was just out of reach.
RSL: Nick Rimando, 11th minute – On the ensuing possession, Philadelphia’s Fafa Picault hammered a shot from just left of center and Nick Rimando knocked it clear for the save.
RSL: Nick Rimando, 20th minute – After a ball from the right side was defended by Marcelo Silva, Keegan Rosenberry crashed on a shot that forced Nick Rimando into a save. The rebound fell to Fafa Picault for a second effort, but Rimando was in position to make the save and keep the match scoreless.
RSL: Nick Rimando, 57th minute – On a flurry up the left side, the ball got crossed into the box for a crushing side-volley from Marcus Epps was met by Nick Rimando with a stellar save.
NOTES:
- In the 67th minute, the Union appeared to add a third goal when Marcus Epps powered a ball past Nick Rimando. However, after video review, the goal was disallowed when Epps was ruled offside.
- RSL played without six players due to injury. GK Alex Horwath (Achilles), DF Shawn Barry (knee), DF Tony Beltran (knee), MF Luke Mulholland (back), FW Jordan Allen (knee) and FW Joao Plata (quad contusion)
Match: Real Salt Lake at Philadelphia Union
Date: May 19, 2018
Venue: Talen Energy Stadium; Chester, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 16,019
Weather: Cloudy and 67
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 0 1 1
Philadelphia Union 2 2 4
PHI: Marcus Epps (Fafa Picault) 21’
PHI: Borek Dockal (Alejandro Bedoya, Marcus Epps) 34’
RSL: Damir Kreilach (Sebastian Saucedo) 65’
PHI: Ilsinho (Borek Dockal, Marcus Epps) 74’
PHI: Keegan Rosenberry (Ilsinho, Borek Dockal) 81’
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Adam Henley (Sebastian Saucedo 46’), Marcelo Silva (Nick Besler 76’), Justen Glad, Pablo Ruiz; Damir Kreilach, Kyle Beckerman; Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnák, Brooks Lennon; Corey Baird.
Subs not used: Connor Sparrow, Danilo Acosta, Aaron Herrera, Sunny, Luis Silva.
Philadelphia Union (4-2-3-1): Andre Blake; Keegan Rosenberry, Mark McKenzie, Auston Trusty, Raymon Gaddis; Alejandro Bedoya, Haris Medunjanin; Marcus Epps (David Accam 79’), Borek Dockal (Anthony Fontana 86’), Fafa Picault; C.J. Sapong (Ilsinho 64’).
Subs not used: John McCarthy, Warren Creavalle, Fabinho, Jack Elliott.
Stats Summary: RSL / PHI
Shots: 13 / 19
Shots on Goal: 6 / 10
Saves: 6 / 5
Corner Kicks: 3 / 8
Fouls: 11 / 12
Offside: 0 / 2
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
RSL: Pablo Ruiz (Caution) 87’
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Cory Richardson
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Video Assistant Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
