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Real Salt Lake Comeback Falls Short in 2-1 Loss to Columbus

June 30, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Real Salt Lake (7-8-2, 23 points) rallied in the second half, but couldn't bounce back from an early deficit as Columbus Crew SC won 2-1 on Saturday at Mapfre Stadium.

MF Albert Rusnák scored his fourth goal of the season to match MF Damir Kreilach for the team lead as RSL met the halfway point of the 2018 season in fifth place in the Western Conference.

Columbus got an early opportunity when DF Danilo Acosta was whistled for a foul in the box on a Crew SC corner kick. Referee Drew Fischer pointed to the spot and Gyasi Zardes converted in the sixth minute for his 11th goal of the season. Later in the 23rd minute, Crew SC doubled its lead when Eduardo Sosa scored his first MLS goal. Harrison Afful led Pedro Santos up the right side and Santos crossed the ball to the box where Sosa hit a first-time shot past GK Nick Rimando for the 2-0 lead. Columbus held a 5-3 shots advantage in the first half, while Real Salt Lake held a slight advantage in possession.

The second half tilted more in RSL's favor and Rusnák converted one of his team-high five shots for this fourth goal of the year. In the 74th minute, FW Corey Baird crossed the ball from right-to-left and it found FW Joao Plata on the far side. Plata sent the ball back through the middle and Rusnák met it with a first-time shot to make it 2-1. RSL would press for an equalizer, but could not penetrate the Columbus defense to find the net and RSL suffered its second straight road defeat.

UP NEXT: RSL returns to Rio Tinto Stadium for consecutive home matches, starting on Wednesday for a Fourth of July clash with rival Sporting Kansas City. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. MT with a postgame fireworks show to follow the match.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:

CLB: Gyasi Zardes (PK), 6th minute - After Danilo Acosta was whistled for a foul in the box on a Columbus corner kick, Gyasi Zardes converted the penalty, shooting low and to Nick Rimando's left while the keeper dove right. For Zardes it was his team-leading 11th goal of the season.

CLB: Eduardo Sosa (Pedro Santos, Harrison Afful), 23rd minute - Pedro Santos made a run up the right side of the field and crossed to Eduardo Sosa in the box for a first-time shot that found the net for his first career MLS goal.

RSL: Albert Rusnák (Joao Plata), 74th minute - Corey Baird crossed the ball from right to left, looking for a header in the middle of the box and the ball went through to the far side where it was recovered by Joao Plata. He sent a rolling ball back to the middle of the box where Albert Rusnák slammed it into the net for his fourth goal of the season.

KEY SAVES AND DEFENSIVE STOPS:

CLB: Jon Kempin, 67th minute. Albert Rusnák got in behind the Columbus defense on a ball from the midfield, but Jon Kempin shielded the left-footed shot from the left side through to the far side for a corner.

NOTES:

- RSL played without five players due to injury. GK Alex Horwath (Achilles), DF Shawn Barry (knee), DF Tony Beltran (knee), DF David Horst (Achilles), DF Demar Phillips (ankle), MF Luke Mulholland (back) and FW Ricky Lopez-Espin (knee) and FW Jordan Allen (knee)

- MF Kyle Beckerman played his 300th career MLS regular season match with RSL on Saturday. He is the third field player to reach that milestone with one club in the league's history, joining Jaime Moreno of D.C. United and Cobi Jones with the LA Galaxy.

Match: Real Salt Lake at Columbus Crew SC

Date: June 30, 2018

Venue: Mapfre Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 16,680

Weather: Sunny and 90

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F

Real Salt Lake 0 1 1

Columbus Crew SC 2 0 2

CLB: Gyasi Zardes (PK), 6'

CLB: Eduardo Sosa (Pedro Santos, Harrison Afful) 23'

RSL: Albert Rusnák (Joao Plata) 74'

Lineups:

Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Nick Rimando; Brooks Lennon (Luis Silva 86'), Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Danilo Acosta; Kyle Beckerman, Sunny; Jefferson Savarino, Albert Rusnák, Sebastian Saucedo (Joao Plata 61'); Damir Kreilach (Corey Baird 68').

Subs not used: Connor Sparrow, Aaron Herrera, Pablo Ruiz, Nick Besler.

Columbus Crew SC (4-2-3-1): Jon Kempin; Harrison Afful, Jonathan Mensah, Gaston Sauro, Hector Jimenez; Artur (Ricardo Clark 91+'), Wil Trapp; Pedro Santos (Niko Hansen 69'), Eduardo Sosa (Lalas Abubakar 79'), Luis Argudo; Gyasi Zardes.

Subs not used: Logan Ketterer, Connor Maloney, Edward Opoku, Mike Grella.

Stats Summary: RSL / CLB

Shots: 10 / 13

Shots on Goal: 4 / 4

Saves: 2 / 3

Corner Kicks: 5 / 9

Fouls: 12 / 12

Offside: 1 / 4

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:

RSL: Sunny (caution) 47+'

RSL: Kyle Beckerman (caution) 56'

CLB: Eduardo Sosa (caution) 66'

RSL: Jefferson Savarino (caution) 91+'

OFFICIALS:

Referee: Drew Fischer

Assistant Referees: Richard Gamache, Brian Dunn

4th Official: Marcos de Oliveira

Video Assistant Referee: Jorge Gonzalez

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