3 Points: RSL drops chances in Los Angeles to set up final push for playoffs
3 Points: RSL drops chances in Los Angeles to set up final push for playoffs
Ryan Hollingshead and Chicho Arango each scored to help Los Angeles FC take all three points from Real Salt Lake, pushing RSL close to the playoff line with five games remaining.
Good day, and thanks for spending part of your evening with 3 Points, the official post-match newsletter and analysis of Real Salt Lake and Utah soccer. A short-handed RSL took its ninth loss of the season Sunday night, but what does that mean for the club’s playoff chances?
Ryan Hollingshead scored the opening goal in the 49th minute, and Cristian “Chicho” Arango doubled the advantage 14 minutes later with the Colombian forward’s 15th goal of the season as LAFC stopped a three-match losing skid with a 2-0 shutout over Real Salt Lake at Banc of California Stadium.
Zac MacMath gave up a penalty in the 89th minute, but stopped Carlos Vela’s effort moments later to preserve the 2-0 loss for Salt Lake (11-9-9).
RSL drops to sixth in the Western Conference with the loss amid an increasingly crowded playoff line as the regular season approach’s the final month. Salt Lake is tied with Portland at 42 points, two behind Minnesota but just three ahead of the eighth-placed LA Galaxy — making Saturday’s home game against last-placed D.C. United a likely must-win matchup.
Kickoff from Rio Tinto Stadium is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MDT.
Let’s take a look at Sunday.
An inopportune moment
After being out-shot 8-1 with only two shots on goal from the hosts in the first half, perhaps Real Salt Lake was fortunate to have earned the scoreless halftime draw.
Fortune favors the bold — and RSL was hardly that in the second half.
The Angelenos scored the opening goal on a broken play in the 49th minute, when goal-scoring right back Ryan Hollingshead finished a deflected chance in the box to give LAFC a 1-0 lead. The top goal-scoring defender in Major League Soccer wasted no time on a wide-open second effort, taking advantage of a prone goalkeeper Zac MacMath and center back Marcelo Silva to notch his fifth goal of the season.
That the two defensive standouts, including the vice captain who wore the arm band in Damir Kreilach’s absence, were down means little; that happens over the course of defending across 90 minutes.
But the recovery was … shall we say, less-than-optimal? Only Johan Kappelhof made a move to box out Hollingshead inside the box, but the right-sided center back was pulled out of position to the left side of the area, and couldn’t make a play in time.
“They really went man to man in the back; they were willing to play their two center backs against our two forwards and that’s the risk they were taking,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni told the KMYU television broadcast. “I thought a couple times we broke them in the first half and in the second half, but again, it’s just finishing up the play, and we fell short tonight.”
No other RSL player is in Hollingshead’s area for the goal. Watch it here:
“I’m going to have to go back on the video and take a peek, but in real time, it looks like both Marcelo and Zac were going for the same ball,” Mastroeni said. “We took on quite a bit of pressure and there were some other opportunities that they had that I thought were more dangerous. To concede on that after defending really well for the first half in particular and the start of the second half, it was a bit of a tough one to swallow.”
Short-ish handed
Arango doubled the lead with a natural finish off a smooth through-ball from Carlos Vela in the 68th minute, giving the Angelenos all they would need to take all three points at home against a shorthanded RSL that started Bryan Oviedo on the wing for Justin Meram for the first time since Oviedo became the first Costa Rican signing at RSL in August since Alvaro Saborio.
Braian Ojeda also made his debut on loan from Nottingham Forest.
“(Ojeda and Oviedo) both played well, Oviedo played in a little more advanced position and it was a little uncomfortable for him, but defensively, they did a lot of good work,” Mastroeni said. “Ojeda got off a plane a couple days ago, and for him to come into a game like this and look like he’s fully fit and ready to go, that’s some really good action on both sides of the ball. I think they both played well.”
Suiting up for the fourth time in 15 days, RSL expected changes in the starting XI. What it got was a mix of both young and old, with Kappelhof making his first start since July 13 — the same day fellow starter Rubio Rubin made his last start. Kappelhoff was replacing Justen Glad, who was suspended for yellow-card accumulation along with Jasper Loffelsend.
Still, this is where depth is tested, and RSL picked up five points during the most recently four-match run. Such a result is … fine, not good but not bad, either. But will it be enough to earn a postseason spot?
More on that in a moment.
Leading scorer Sergio Cordova was in his familiar position up top, and Jefferson Savarino remained on the pitch — albeit on the wing instead of the withdrawn attacker he’s played for several games.
Meram came on as a second-half sub in the 69th minute, replacing Scott Caldwell after Arango’s goal. So RSL still had enough firepower to make things interesting before finishing with five of their eight shots on frame.
“Hopefully we can get some of these guys a little more fit as we progress this week,” Mastroeni said. “Obviously, there are some tired legs out there, eight days, next week’s going to be seven. We’re going to look at how we plan for those games, we’ve got some tough games coming up but we’ve got to find a way.”
Saturday is must-win
With just five games remaining in the regular season, every point will matter until Oct. 9 — at least, to those on or near the playoff line.
That includes Real Salt Lake, which ends the regular season with Austin FC, FC Cincinnati, LA Galaxy and the Portland Timbers after Saturday’s bout with D.C.
There’s still time for things to change. But be prepared for that regular-season finale Oct. 9 against the Timbers to be a playoff decider. Again, it’s not mathematically guaranteed — but it’s a real possibility, with both teams tied on points.
RSL is averaging 1.45 points per match to edge out Portland’s 1.4 in MLS’s current tiebreaker scenario.
“These next few games are going to be dog fights,” Mastroeni said. “I think for us, it’s about recovering from a very difficult week of travel. I think the guys left it all on the field tonight. It was never going to be easy. But I think now with a couple more days of rest, this next game will be huge for us.
“We’ve got to keep winning our home games, getting points on the road, and every game feels like a Cup final from here on out.”
