Real Salt Lake's spiral continues with 2-1 road loss to Portland
The road streak is over after Santiago Moreno and Felipe Mora scored hand RSL its first road loss in MLS play since April 15.
Real Salt Lake are a team in crisis.
Santiago Moreno and Felipe Mora scored a goal in either half as the Portland Timbers held off Real Salt Lake, 2-1 late Wednesday night at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon.
Chicho Arango scored the lone goal for Salt Lake.
The loss dropped RSL (10-9-7, 37 points) into a tie for fifth and sixth place overall in the Wester Conference, a virtual free-fall on the same night Supporters Shield leaders FC Cincinnati clinched a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs and St. Louis widened its lead atop the West to seven points with eight games remaining. Portland (7-11-8, 29 points) inched up into a tie for 11th with 29 points
Salt Lake is heading in the wrong direction, with four of its final eight games at home beginning Saturday against Rocky Mountain Cup rivals Colorado. Only eight points separate second place from 10th in the increasingly tight Western Conference.
“At the moment, confidence is a bit low,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni admitted after the loss, which was RSL’s first in league play on the road since April 15.
With the win, Portland snapped a four-match losing skid across all competitions with just their second win in MLS play since June 12. It’s the first under interim head coach Miles Joseph, the caretaker manager following the firing of Giovanni Savarese.
Moreno gave Portland the early lead in the 13th minute, and Felipe Mora doubled the advantage in the 64th minute.
“It’s tough, especially in the run of form that we’re currently in,” Mastroeni said. “I don’t think it’s only the goal, but the way we conceded it.
“The ball’s getting crossed, it’s 30 feet in the air, and we have two guys around there. We’re just not in good positions. In these moments, your concentration has to be at the highest levels. Those kinds of moments seem more prominent when we’re not in a good run of form. But it’s always hard to play from behind. The objective today was to come in at half at zeroes or up a goal, and we weren’t able to achieve that.”
In between both goals, RSL had chances. Anderson Julio had a goal. Andres Gomez, the second-half sub, as well. Brayan Vera struck the crossbar shortly before Mora’s eventual match-winner.
RSL out-shot Portland 14-7, including five shots on goal. But the visitors couldn’t find the back of the net until Arango’s final touch off Vera’s strike in the 83rd minute.
It wasn’t enough, sending RSL to a fourth-straight defeat in all competitions with their first road loss since April 15.
“I think we let ourselves down with the first goal,” Mastroeni said. “Obviously, the second goal didn’t help but, again, the guys have fight in them and the belief that we’re going to straighten the ship out.
“We’ve got to do it sooner than later.”