By DAN KARELL
Only six days after conceding four goals in a match, Real Salt Lake dished it right back at another Western Conference opponent.
In front of a national television audience and a sold-out crowd at Rio Tinto Stadium, RSL routed the ten-man Portland Timbers, 4-2, extending the home side’s lead atop the Western Conference and Supporters Shield standings to five points. Midfielders Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales bossed the match while forwards Joao Plata and Alvaro Saborio impacted the match with a goal each.
RSL beat out the Los Angeles Galaxy, Sporting Kansas City, and the Seattle Sounders for this week’s honors.
What did you think of RSL’s performance? Which team stood out to you in MLS Week 27?
Share your thoughts below.
Unfortunately I didn’t attend the game, but what a performance for a sold out crowd (again).
The first 30 mintues of that Portland/RSL was the best soccer I have ever seen RSL play. Their flow and creativity were incredible. If they could play that way all the time they would be unbeatable. That being said, RSL’s defense is the weak link. I hate saying that as it used to be their strong point. Too many CB breakdowns. Either way, fun to watch them in this “rebuilding” year.
I think Salt Lake is the team to beat.
LA is definitely a beast offensively, Seattle is hot, Timbers are very tough.
But Salt Lake is just so good across the whole field, plus Saborio is insanely underrated. Is he scoring a goal a game yet ?
It’s something insane like .84 goals a game. He’s played around half the available games and he’s still up there in the Golden Boot race!
Yikes! And is Plata not considered a rookie? I thought he certainly had a better game than Zardes.
Plata isn’t a rookie in MLS. He has a year under his belt with FTC.
I appreciate that, and didn’t know he had played before.
I spent ten minutes trying to think of who FTC was
Plata is not a rookie, but if he was he’d surely be a rookie of the year candidate. I’m a Galaxy fan, but I really enjoy watching Plata play. He’s tiny and the ball seems to stick to his feet. Not common traits in MLS.
Conceded four goals a week ago?
They scored four goals a week ago, not conceded four.
Lost to LA 4-2. Tied Timbers 3-3. Then won timbers 4-2.
What people are saying is that we crushed Columbus 4-0 six days ago, while the Galaxy debacle was two weeks ago.
Forgot about that one. So many reasons to smile as an RSL fan this season.