3 Points: RSL snaps winless skid with emphatic win over LA Galaxy
Real Salt Lake picked up its first win since March 19 with a goal from center back Marcelo Silva, a stupendous performance by Zach MacMath, and a heroic effort by Justen Glad.
Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Own Goals, the official newsletter of the Salt City FC podcast. Apologies for being a day later on this newsletter; the writer of said Substack came down with a head cold over the weekend, shortly after Real Salt Lake’s 1-0 win over the LA Galaxy, so here we are.
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Now let’s take a look at RSL’s first win in a month.
It’s been since March 19 that Real Salt Lake has celebrated a win, a nervy 2-1 victory over Nashville SC that is looking better and better as the weeks go by (and with Nashville unbeaten in four of their five matches since, including a 1-1 draw in their home opener Sunday against Philadelphia). And in that time, Salt Lake fans haven’t had many reasons to celebrate.
Sure, there have been the small victories, like a road draw with Colorado that keeps possession (for now) of the Rocky Mountain Cup or a road point from Portland via a scoreless draw last week. But victories have been mild, even milquetoast, while Real Salt Lake sputtered in other ways.
Yes, we’re going to talk about that 6-0 loss to New York City FC. But before you delete this email or close your browser tab, read on. Because that loss may be an important moment for the reason.
Real Rebound
We’ve spoken of it before, so we’ll barely remind you: The team that was routed by a suddenly reinvigorated New York City FC squad at Yankee Stadium was embarrassed by that performance.
Humbled. Hapless. But all in all, embarrassed. And things didn’t get much better when RSL crashed out of the U.S. Open Cup via a stunning 1-0 defeat to USL League One side Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, a third-division club barely a month old professionally.
It was not a good time to be an RSL fan, at least for a week, and it could’ve gone even longer. But two of the worst defeats in franchise history — the loss to NYC FC tied a franchise record for largest margin of defeat, and no RSL side had lost a competitive match to a lower division team as low as USL League One before — could’ve meant bad things on the season.
It could’ve given the club a reason to pack it in. Maybe fold up, hope for better days with new acquisitions, and try to stop the bleeding.
It didn’t. In fact, while it’s too early to predict the future, that loss in the Bronx may turn out to be a crucial turning point on the season.
”After the New York game, we took a pretty hard look at ourselves. It was time to rattle off some shutouts, and dig deep,” said RSL goalkeeper Zach MacMath, who had four saves in his fourth clean sheet of the year.
“If we continue to have defensive performances like that, the offense will come, the goals will come, and we can continue to stay atop in the playoff spots.”
The offensive shutout in New York City was bad enough. But what Pablo Mastroeni’s side prides itself on is defense — keep a zero, and give yourself a chance. And that’s exactly what they did against the Galaxy, which out-shot RSL 14-6 but only registered four shots on goal.
“It certainly starts with Pablo,” MacMath said. “Back to the New York game, they didn’t blink an eye about the six goals; that gives me all the confidence in the world.
“Hopefully my confidence gives them confidence as well.”
Speaking of defense …
Justen Glad is BACK
There were a lot of individual performances Saturday against the Galaxy, from MacMath to center back Marcelo Silva, who scored the game-winning goal in the 49th minute and then did an even bigger service by keeping the shutout.
But perhaps none were bigger than Justen Glad, who returned from a hamstring injury just one week ago and registered his second 90-minute appearance in as many MLS matches Saturday afternoon.
Indeed, the only goal of that Open Cup match came after Glad had been subbed off in the 62nd minute, the product of a recovering hamstring. One can only imagine what might have been if he had gone the full 90 — for better, or possibly for worse. It doesn’t do any good to think about the What If’s (unless that’s a reference to Marvel’s animated series streaming on Disney+ that you all should watch before seeing Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness this weekend … shameless plug).
But what Glad has done on the field has been key to RSL’s turnaround. Look no further than Saturday, when he was tasked with defending LA’s Chicharito Hernandez, whose five goals in then-eight matches has him in the thick of the league’s Golden Boot race.
But Glad limited Chicharito without a single shot, interrupted him to the point of 75% passing, and posted just 0.15 expected goals on the match — if you believe those advanced numbers. Glad kept Chicharito securely in his back pocket, and the Mexican international couldn’t get out for 90 minutes.
“He’s always on your back shoulder, so you’ve just got to be focused 100% of the game,” Glad said after the match. “If you’re only 99%, he’ll find that 1% and he’ll put it away.”
Donuts bring … donuts
It wasn’t always pretty, and at times, RSL was forced to bunker against the Galaxy attack — which had to be unsettling for the 20,755 fans in the fourth-straight sellout match at Rio Tinto Stadium.
But the result was a clean sheet — with a little help from VAR — and the result is all that matters, in the end. Real Salt Lake got the dub, which is more than they could say for the previous six matches. Build up a home fortress, and good things tend to fall into place in Major League Soccer. Make sure one of those home wins is over Los Angeles — which is tied for third in a crowded Western Conference table with Salt Lake and Dallas — and even better.
“At the end of the day, it’s a shutout,” said defender Aaron Herrera, who registered his 100th appearance in MLS play. “We’re happy with it — and Brody’s bringing donuts to training on Tuesday.”
Herrera admits to a little luck — or at least, a favorable video review — being involved, as well. That’s because the outside back was directly responsible in Dejan Joveljic’s would-be equalizer in the 95th minute.
But within seconds of Joveljic’s half-volley deep into stoppage time, Mastroeni was out of his seat. One of his assistants had seen a player in an offside position, and the manager wanted a review. Assistant referee Kathryn Nesbitt agreed to send the goal to video review, and center official Drew Fischer took several moments to review the call — and ultimately disallow the goal as a result of an offside violation.
VAR giveth, and VAR taketh away. Blessed be the name of VAR, right?
“We were all going to be extremely disappointed if it ended up standing,” Herrera said. “I don’t remember much of it; I didn’t see the push or whatever it was. But I remembered I cleared the ball after Zach told me to leave it, they got pressure, a good chest and good first touch.
“We were fortunate. I know we have to be better.”