4-0, again: Crew hand Real Salt Lake longest losing skid in 4 years
4-0, again: Crew hand Real Salt Lake longest losing skid in 4 years
Real Salt Lake dropped its fourth-straight match Saturday night, 3-0 at Columbus — the club's longest losing skid since 2019.
Real Salt Lake’s misery reached new heights under manager Pablo Mastroeni on Saturday night.
Newly capped U.S. international Aidan Morris scored a brace, and Lucas Zelarayán added a goal and an assist as the Columbus Crew cruised to a 4-0 win over Real Salt Lake at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
It’s the fourth-straight loss for RSL, which matched its longest losing skid since 2019 under later-fired manager Mike Petke. Since rallying to top Vancouver 2-1 in the season opener, Real Salt Lake has been outscored 12-1 on aggregate, with the only goal coming through center back Justen Glad in the home opener against Austin FC.
Columbus outshot RSL 19-9, and held the visitors to five shots on target with just 41% of possession. No single RSL player had multiple attempts on frame.
“Everyone in that locker room are human beings,” Mastroeni said. “When you do good things, you gain confidence. You feel like you are two inches taller.
“When you’re in a bad run of form, there’s a different mentality … We’ve got to get back to being dogs. Tonight, the effort was fantastic. But confidence plays a big role.”
Morris struck first for the Crew, finishing off a play by Zelarayán in the box with a right-footed shot through an empty lane that clipped inside the far post for a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute.
First-time starting goalkeeper Gavin Beavers made up for it with a swiping save on a set piece in the 29th minute, backtracking to paw a loose ball in the box to keep the scoreline just 1-0. Just two minutes later later, Maikel Chang nearly equalized for the visitors but for an equally astounding save by Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
Instead, Zelarayán doubled the Crew’s advantage, converting a penalty kick after Pablo Ruiz committed a foul in the box in the 40th minute to send the hosts up, 2-0 with just three shots on target.
Things went from bad to worse when Darlington Nagbe ripped a shot in the 53rd minute. Beavers made the initial save, but spilled it, and Morris was there to tap it home to stretch Columbus’ lead to 3-0 for the brace and his third goal in two matches.
Yaw Yeboah put the finishing touches on the match in stoppage time to hand Salt Lake (1-4, 3 points) a second-straight 4-0 defeat, following last week’s 4-0 home setback to St. Louis City SC.
“It wasn’t a performance that we’re proud of,” a visibly frustrated Justen Glad said after the match. “Obviously, we knew it was going to be a tough game. But to let in four again after last game is definitely a tough pill to swallow.
“Now it’s back to the lab.”
Wonder kid
Morris had just one assist in 27 appearances for the Crew a year ago, including 20 starts.
Prior to last season, which included a three-game stint with MLS NEXT Pro champions Crew 2, the 21-year-old Morris had played in just 10 games for Columbus over two years.
Sometimes it takes a a few moments to jumpstart a career. But goals against Atlanta United and RSL are more than a fluke.
And that may be the case with a lot of young talent for RSL, including first-time starting goalkeeper Beavers, rising midfield star Diego Luna and rookie fullback Emeka Eneli, to name a few. All of these players — maybe more, probably more, or certainly others — may find the right spark and go on to have fruitful careers.
“All of these young guys have long careers in front of them,” Glad said. “The only option is to elevate yourself … and try to switch it around.
Right now, though? There’s no other way to say it: RSL is in a funk, and the kids aren’t alright.
“You’re not going to get too many chances on the road,” Mastroeni said. “To not be able to execute in (several key) moments, I think, is disappointing. But the guys gave everything, and those are aspects of the game tonight that we’ll take away.”
Youth movement
Gavin Beavers made history Saturday night with his first career start among a youthful lineup.
At 17 years, 337 days, Beavers became the fourth-youngest goalkeeper in MLS history and the third-youngest to start a match — after the then-16-year-old ‘keeper became the youngest starting goalkeeper in USL Championship history with Real Monarchs.
Only Vancouver’s Max Anchor (17 years, 305 days) and Chicago’s Gabriel Slonina (17 years, 81 days) were younger upon receiving their first start. After becoming the youngest U.S. goalkeeper to debut with the senior national team, Slonina signed a six-year contract with Premier League side Chelsea after making his Fire debut.
In addition to Beavers, rookie forward Ilijah Paul earned his first start, pairing alongside returning Guatemalan international Rubio Rubin in a newly aligned 4-4-2 formation that featured Justin Meram and Maikel Chang on the wings.
Mastroeni said the laundry list of changes to the lineup, formation, etc. included “trying to find a combination of players that can help break this run that we’re on.”
“You keep doing the same things expecting different results, that isn’t it,” Mastroeni said, stopping short of using the words “definition of insanity.”
“We’re a little light on the back line, and I thought we had given up a lot of goals in the previous three games. That was the decision with Beavers, but really it’s our ability to score goals. I’ll keep saying that: until we can score first and dictate a position from being ahead, there’s a lot of pressure on the defense.”
There was one other piece of club history: Glad wore the captain’s armband as the veteran leader of a back line that included Andrew Brody, Brayan Vera and Emeka Eneli. Glad, a veteran of 196 MLS matches at 26, is the first RSL homegrown to wear the armband and on track to hit his 200th MLS cap later this month.
“Going on a four-game losing streak is never easy,” Glad said. “But I have faith in the group that we have … and we’ll figure it out, going forward.”
The exception, or the norm?
The smallest market-value team in Major League Soccer has consistently punched above its weight, making playoffs and winning an MLS Cup back in 2009 (that the club will repeatedly remind you). But is the low-budget, small-market franchise nestled on the western edge of the Rocky Mountains simply punching at its weight?
Remember, RSL’s ownership has been in transition under new buyers David Blitzer and Ryan Smith (who both have a worldwide football network and an NBA team to manage, respectively). And while contending for playoff berths as admirable — especially in an overly saturated postseason like the one MLS has introduced — sometimes teams finish where their investments lie.
Glad is listed as a €2 million player, according to Transfermarket, which ranks third-highest on the team behind Jefferson Savarino (€5 million) and Andres Gomez (€3.5 million). Is that an excuse? It hasn’t been when the club has overachieved in the past.
And Glad, for his part, is refusing to let it be an excuse with Salt Lake mired in the dumps of the current losing skid.
“It’s about looking ourselves in the mirror,” said Glad, the team’s leading scorer with two goals. “If we need to stay and do more technical work, or get more fit; whatever it may be. But it’s about the players. You can talk about front office, coaching, whatever; we know it’s the 11 players on the field and the people coming in (as substitutes) who are getting the results. We all have to look ourselves in the mirror, understand that, and do whatever to keep going.”
RSL is back home next Saturday, April 8 to host Charlotte FC. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MDT on MLS Season Pass.