Real Salt Lake became the first Major League Soccer team to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Columbus Crew at Rio Tinto Stadium Tuesday night.
Javier Morales set up Alvaro Saborio's opening goal in the 22nd minute and scored in the 35th and 76th minutes in a standout performance. Midfielder Andy Williams, who received the start after sitting in favor of Ned Grabavoy in the first leg, had a hand in two goals and punctuated the victory with a stoppage-time free kick to help guide RSL.
Andres Mendoza pulled the Crew within 2-1 minutes into the second half, but the visitors hardly tested goalkeeper Nick Rimando after that and bowed out of the tournament after holding RSL to a 0-0 draw in the opening leg in Columbus.
Here are the video highlights:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXyDZGrqgQo]
Salt Lake awaits the winner of the Olimpia/Saprissa quarterfinal in the next round and will host the opening game of the two-legged tie on March 15. Cruz Azul, which punched its ticket to the semifinals with a 5-1 aggregate victory over Santos Laguna, will face either Monterrey or Toluca.
What did you think of the match? Do you think RSL can reach the final?
Share your thoughts below.
That is a VERY respectable number for a weeknight game, that looked like it was freezing outside.
Nice to see that, and I assume there will be even more in the next round.
Doubling our attendance wouldn’t be very impressive considering that SLC would have to triple in population just to be the same size that Seattle is now
I thought the quality of play from RSL was excellent. Good movement off the ball. I thought Columbus played MLS boom ball at its finest and the result shows what a team can do against boom ball. I hope the patience and passing trend that RSL exhibited continues throughout the league.
We don’t need the style of play that was last year’s final. I have hope in the MLS yet.
Monterrey Is going to win it with. overall best team, fans, style of play.They have a impressive speedy and talented roster, not to mention Chupete Suazo who has led them to 2 championships in 4 seasons. Good luck RSL/Saprissa.
You have to have a team good enough to make it that far, not just win the USOC.