3 Points: LAFC throttles Real Salt Lake 4-1, but was it still a little fun?
3 Points: LAFC throttles Real Salt Lake 4-1, but was it still a little fun?
Most RSL fans have already forgotten Gareth Bale's debut at Rio Tinto Stadium. If not, here are a few fun things they may have missed — and a couple of things that need work.
Good morning, and thank you for waking up with 3 Points, the official post-match newsletter of the Salt City FC podcast covering Real Salt Lake and soccer on the Wasatch Front.
Real Salt Lake fell to LAFC badly at home, extending the Angeleno’s win streak to five-straight with their fifth-consecutive win over RSL. It was a nasty game, a lopsided game, and one that most Salt Lake fans will probably wish to forget — if they haven’t already.
It was also, strangely, oddly — maybe even sadistically — kind of fun. LAFC is really good, Supporters Shield leaders for a reason and keeps stacking up talent at an unprecedented rate in league history. RSL, meanwhile, has the lowest payroll in the league, but playing at home in an electric atmosphere that represented sellout No. 12 of the season.
Saturday’s result wasn’t fun if you’re an RSL fan. But it’s hardly earth-shattering, either. So let’s take a deep breath, and reflect for a moment.
Chicho Arango notched a brace and Kellyn Acosta scored the match-winner in 17th minute as league-leading LAFC dispatched Real Salt Lake, 4-1 in front of a stadium-record crowd at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night in Sandy.
Oh, and Sergio Cordova scored for RSL, his fifth goal of the year and second in four matches for the Venezuelan on loan from FC Augsburg. Silver linings, right?
It was the second home defeat of the season for RSL, which dropped to 9-9-7 and fifth place in the Western Conference. But unlike the last defeat at home, a soul-sucking 1-0 loss to FC Dallas, this one felt different.
At the very least, this one was … fun? At the very least, it was until Gareth Bale’s goal in the 87th minute. Unless you’re a Tottenham supporter (hi, Lucas) or Real Madrid or Team GB, that probably wasn’t very enjoyable.
From a record-setting crowd that may never be beaten (at least, not any time soon) to the “Hand of Chiellini” that barely warranted a whistle to the most impressive debut by a Welshman at Rio Tinto Stadium since Emery in 2015 (that’s a joke), sometimes you just have to laugh and move on.
RSL certainly will. What else can you do?
“I don’t think tonight, the result reflected performance,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “I think they were killers in front of goal, and they made us pay for it. But I thought the overarching run of play, we did a really good job attacking, creating opportunities, exposing the wide opportunities … and minimizing a team that is prolific.
“It’s hard to say that when the result is so skewed. But at 2-1, we had a couple of chances, a good start to the second half and didn’t capitalize. Goals change games, and tonight we didn’t find that second goal.”
Are you not entertained?!!
The drums were blaring, the smoke bombs were back, and a giant tifo soared above the south stands at Rio Tinto Stadium that proclaimed “The Team is the Star” — an obvious nod to the star power of LAFC, which didn’t use anything but an international spot and holy, holy TAM to sign Bale to a 12-month contract in between his world golf tour.
It even had a handball that wasn’t a handball, or at least it was, but it didn’t result in any major discipline.
Yes, we’re referring to Giorgio Chiellini’s incredible double-fisted move just past midfield in the 69th minute, when he palmed a ball to the turf and only laughed at Rubio Rubin — and the center official — with an obnoxious grin. RSL fans weren’t happy; LAFC fans were delighted. Neutrals? Sometimes all you can do is shake your head.
#MLSRefs, amirite?
This match had a little bit of everything, from braces from one of the top goal-scorers in the league to quick responses by a polarizing RSL striker and his trusty sidekick Andrew Brody to the facepalm that was Chiellini. Bale scored his second goal in MLS play, and that wasn’t even the headline — except, perhaps, across the pond, where the only time they pay attention to MLS is in time to call it a “retirement league” (maybe the retirement label should be extended to officials? I’ll await my fine from New York City).
For his part, and to be fair to the 37-year-old Italian superstar, Chiellini accepted whatever was intended for his mental lapse. He stopped play, he raised his hand, he laughed it off, and then he took the backup goalkeeper’s gloves in jest when he headed to the bench.
After the game, as well, Chiellini posed for pictures with fans — he even stopped to shake hands and sign autographs for every one of the Real Monarchs youngsters in attendance — and was as classy as the Italian press has made him out to be. Hate the call, but don’t hate the player.
In the end, sports is entertainment, and Saturday’s match was entertaining. LAFC won their fifth in a row, further cementing their six-point lead atop the West before the All-Star break, and RSL … well, RSL will continue searching for answers.
#MLSAfterDark
The 21,000-seat stadium in Sandy was packed well before kickoff for the 12th-straight sellout at Rio Tinto Stadium due to an insane amount of star power (and we’re not just referring to Andrew Brody), which is probably a good thing because goals were aplenty in less than a half hour after the formal start time.
Arango scored just nine minutes in for LAFC, Sergio Cordova equalized a minute later, and Kellyn Acosta converted a cheeky shot in the 17th minute to put the Angelenos in front again. It was the first time LAFC had scored any goals in the first 20 minutes of a match all season — yet alone two — and made for, if nothing else, an entertaining first half.
But Arango was something special, and he showed it with his 11th goal of the season — a 60th minute slammer that, with respect to Bale, slammed the door shut on RSL’s hopes.
With all the talent up and down the LAFC roster and a new DP striker set to come in soon, Arango’s place in the squad has been called into question. Could RSL have used a player of that caliber before the closing of the most recent secondary transfer window?
“He’s definitely someone we spoke about,” Mastroeni said, before letting a lengthy pause hang in his post-match press conference.
As for cheeky attacking, or inept defending? That’ll depend on who you ask.
Saturday was frustrating, but it was also, in a weird (and again, maybe sadistic) kind of way, it was also fun. It wasn’t just RSL-LAFC, either; Saturday broke a record across MLS with 57 total goals, with only one 0-0 draw and just three total scoreless teams across 13 fixtures. That’s 11 more goals than the previous high.
If you thought LAFC taking a 4-1 win in Sandy was impressive, let’s introduce you to Colorado 4, Minnesota 3 and a Gyasi Zardes hat trick. It was peak chaos, the epitome of #MLSAfterDark, and — honestly — the league probably needs more afternoons and evenings like the one fans just experienced, as a whole.
Defense optional? Sure. But also a ton of fun. A lot of defenses need work — RSL included, after a pair of mental lapses by Justin Meram and Jasper Loffelsend (who openly claimed them) in the same way as Aaron Herrera in the last home game.
“I think it’s not letting the moment get too big,” Mastroeni said. “Both of those plays are easily solved, but I think sometimes when the engine is running faster than the brain, those are the kinds of plays that happen.
“Take a deep breath … but a lot of that comes from experience, and not having played in a game of this magnitude in Jasper’s case. And a poor clearance is a poor clearance; those two goals didn’t set us up for a great start. But it’s hard to train for those things; you can’t really mimic those actions. They are plays that you have to make, and we’ve got to get better at it.”
Fun. Frustrating. Stressful. Disappointing. Electric.
All of the above, and then some.
New standard
Saturday’s match registered an official attendance tally of 21,810 — a new stadium record for Rio Tinto Stadium with a standing room-only crowd for most of the past week and one that will be difficult to break in the near future.
Between newly acquired Gareth Bale, Carlos Vela and Ilie Sanchez (or Giorgio Chiellini, Chicho Arango, Kellyn Acosta or MLS ExtraTime legend Kwadwo Opoku … take your pick), league-leading LAFC has drawn massive crowds where ever it’s traveled — and Sandy, Utah was no exception.
The match sold out by the middle of the week, with more than 800 walk-up tickets sold a few hours before kickoff, and several sold even after the official 8:37 p.m. MT start, per RSL officials. Tickets for the match began selling as soon as LAFC signed Gareth Bale, the 33-year-old Welsh international and five-time UEFA Champions League winner whose arrival in Major League Soccer signaled another shift for the league — if for no other reason than the fact that he doesn’t occupy a Designated Player spot due to targeted allocation money (and a $75,000 fee to Inter Miami CF for his discovery rights).
Every other top crowd has featured a big-time player coming to the Salt Lake area — from Bale to Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Robbie Keane, to name a few illustrations by RSL PR guru Trey Fitz-Gerald.
Whatever it was, though, the crowd was “fantastic,” Mastroeni was quick to point out.
“I thought the fans were really a great 12th man, really pulling the team forward,” he added. “They wanted it more than everyone. And the guys started the first half and the second bright and took the energy to play with everything.
“It was one that I felt like we could play well, and get a result. I really did. But the game of soccer doesn’t owe you anything. You’ve got to go out and get it.”