Points gained and new beginnings: Luna's goal earns RSL 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy
Diego Luna's fourth goal of the season earned Real Salt Lake a vital 2-2 draw at the LA Galaxy, keeping the club's bid for a top-4 playoff spot in the West in sight ahead of Decision Day.
Down a number of starters due to injuries, suspensions and the FIFA international window and by as much as 2-0 in the first half, Diego Luna scored a 76th-minute equalizer to help Real Salt Lake split the points with the Galaxy, 2-2 Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Anderson Julio also scored for RSL, which improved to 13-12-8 with 47 points — one point behind fourth-place Houston with one match remaining.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve had to come back to get a result,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said. “I contribute that to the culture of the group, and the ability of the guys to come back and rally as a group.”
Salt Lake could’ve jumped as high as fourth place in the crowded Western Conference with a win over the postseason-eliminated Galaxy.
Instead, RSL was undone early by Dejan Joveljic’s seventh-minute goal that gave LA a lead it would never relinquish.
The Serbian international also assisted on Douglas Costa’s rip into the top shelf that doubled the advantage in the 34th minute.
But Anderson Julio pulled one back in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, converting a pass from Nelson Palacio for his fifth goal of the season, including 11 starts.
That set up Luna’s equalizer in the 76th minute as the former El Paso Locomotive star scored his fourth goal of the year (and first since a July 15 brace against Red Bulls New York) to finish RSL’s second goal and clinch a road point with one match remaining.
“It seems like sometimes we stitch ourselves early. I think that’s something that we need to work on,” Luna said. “But you see the mentality of the team, our work rate, and how we’re not going to give up. If we stop and fix those stitches in the beginning, we can win games easily. We’re going to go plus-90 minutes and continue fighting until the end. That’s just the mentality of the team, and what’s bringing us success.”
Saturday also saw the debut of Real Monarchs callups Axel Kei and Zavier Gozo, both RSL Academy products who were added to the roster on short contracts under Major League Soccer’s extreme hardship roster mechanism.
At 15 years and 289 days, Kei becomes the youngest player to debut for RSL in club history, topping former No. 1 overall MLS SuperDraft pick Nikolas Besagno’s previous early-age record (16 years, 201 days).
Gozo, a Utah native who grew up in Eagle Mountain and whose brother Elijah plays for Kyle Beckerman at Utah Valley University, becomes the third-youngest debutant in RSL history at 16 years, 206 days — just five days older than Besagno when he made his MLS debut in 2005.
Kei finished with three shots and one shot on target for RSL.
“You have to start somewhere as a young player, and this opportunity was really unique, given how many players we had,” Mastroeni said. “I don’t know that they would’ve had so many opportunities to train with us for the whole week had we not had so many injuries and player absences.
“They have trained with us throughout the year. But I think every player’s trajectory is different. And when you have different success at the Monarchs level — success being defined by different metrics, depending on your position, your level of maturity and a lot of other metrics — getting your first MLS minutes is really important for a young player,” Mastroeni said. “You’ve done it once, and now you know what it takes to be able to do it again. As far as the future is concerned, they are always in and around our group.
“The tough thing for a coach, and I’m being really transparent, is that if we play a bunch of young guys and we lose, nobody’s happy. So how do you bring the young guys along in a way that protects them from having too much accountability at a young age, while still putting them in situations to compete the right way, to be a good pro, and to contribute in a meaningful way. That’s always more art than science, but as a club, it’s something we talk about internally quite often.”
RSL kicks off MLS Decision Day at 7 p.m. MT Saturday, with a chance at home-field advantage in the first round of the best-of-three playoffs close at hand.
“The most important game for us right now is Colorado,” Mastroeni said. “I think I have to keep the energy and the coaching staff focused on the selection, and that’s what we’ll be working on the plane ride home … But the chance to get a win next weekend would be huge.”