CHESTER, Pa. — The injury list is getting shorter for Real Salt Lake, if that’s any consolation from the club’s latest setback.
Saba Lobjanidze notched his sixth goal contribution in 13 matches this season before RSL fell to the Philadelphia Union, 2-1 Saturday evening at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.
RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni kept the same starting lineup from the club’s 3-0 win over New England that snapped a club-record 13 match MLS winless skid.
But the dynamic of the lineup was completely different. Zach Booth (hamstring) and Ariath Piol (Achilles) both returned to the bench after lengthy injury layoffs, including Piol since the Australian international suffered an Achilles tear after scoring the game-winning goal Feb. 28 at home.
The club also returned several internationals from their respective camps during the September-October window, notably Juan Manuel Sanabria (Uruguay), Luc de Fougerolles (Canada), Saba Lobjanidze (Georgia), and U.S. youth internationals Colin Guske and Luca Moisa.
From as many as 13 absences two weeks ago, the club was down to just five players on the unavailable list — a group that includes talisman winger Diego Luna, who is out for the season following knee surgery.
Still, Philadelphia out-shot Salt Lake 6-2 in the first half, but only put two shots on target after clinching 32 of a possible 36 points from 12 matches since returning from the FIFA men’s World Cup break in July to surge up the Eastern Conference table.
One of those came off the right boot of Bruno Damiani, who struck from the center of the penalty area off a pass from Frankie Westfield to give the Union a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute.
Sanabria entered as a substitute to start the second half, and de Fougerolles joined him in making his RSL debut — becoming the 245th player all-time in Salt Lake’s 22-year history.
But Milan Iloski, the former RSL Homegrown with 16 goals and six assists in a previous 27 appearances for the Union (12-10-6, 42 points) doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 81st minute, finishing a shot from close range from Cavan Sullivan that was ruled a goal following a lengthy VAR review.
Lobjanidze pulled one back in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, taking a well-played through ball from de Fougerolles following a corner kick for his third goal in his last six available appearances for Real Salt Lake.
With the setup, de Fougerolles — a Canadian international from London on loan with Salt Lake from England’s Fulham FC — became the ninth player in club history to record an assist in his debut, and the 15th with a goal contribution in his first appearance.
But Philadelphia head on to hand RSL its 10th road loss of the year dating back to March 7 at Atlanta and falling to 5-2-6 all-time against the Union at Subaru Park.
Salt Lake returns home Wednesday to host the San Jose Earthquakes. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT at America First Field before the club heads to Sporting Kansas City for a third match in eight days Saturday (6:30 p.m. MT, Apple TV).
