Real Salt Lake traveled to Philadelphia this weekend with a lot of baggage, both literally and figuratively.
Embarking on a two-match Eastern Conference road swing, RSL faced a pivotal moment after collecting four consecutive draws at home and struggling to score goals. The LA Galaxy and Sporting KC had both vaulted over Real in the Western Conference standings during that time — could RSL recapture its early-season spark and become a postseason contender?
On paper, it seemed like three points would be a huge task for Real. Philadelphia had been excellent at home in 2016, and RSL were struggling both with their own form and with some significant injuries.
Yura Movsisyan and Jordan Allen were both unavailable, the latter having picked up an injury in the midweek homegrown players’ showcase match. The striker corps had been thinned to the point that Jeff Cassar recalled Devon Sandoval from his Rayo OKC loan to serve as backup.
Needless to say, expectations weren’t exactly soaring before the match.
Early on against the Union, it looked like the same old, same old. Play was fairly disjointed as both teams sought to control the midfield, Joao Plata hit the frame with one chance, and RSL conceded a goal late on a penalty kick to put them down by one going into the halftime break.
And then something happened at halftime. Plata broke free on the left side, got an opening, and sent a long-range shot similar to the one he hit off the frame earlier toward Andre Blake in goal. This one dipped at the right time, though, beating Blake and leveling the score at 1-1.
Just a few minutes later, Javier Morales found a similar opening, this time on the right. Seeing Blake off his line, RSL’s playmaker chipped the ball over the goalkeeper for a highlight reel-quality goal.
Real had the lead. What was even happening? Where had this been for the last six weeks?
RSL’s Twitter fandom trembled with the thought of the team trying to keep the lead for more than a half-hour, but some good team defense combined with several individual moments kept Real ahead. It was hardly an easy feat — the Union had its chances, including a late goal-mouth frenzy that saw Nick Rimando make a great save and Jamison Olave make a goal-line clearance — but Real managed to hold on and earn its first win in what probably seemed like forever for the players, coaches, and fans alike.
No one will have much time to celebrate, however. RSL visits a mercurial Toronto side on Wednesday, where the defense will have a fun evening with Sebastian Giovinco.
But for now, the proverbial monkey is off Real’s collective back, as Rimando mentioned after the match:
Things weren’t going our way for a while, I felt like. Everything was against us. We weren’t hitting the back of the net and soft goals were going in. Today felt like a little mirror in the second half and to get those three points heading into Toronto, it feels good to get that monkey off our back with the ties.
Real Salt Lake
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