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Real Salt Lake Falls 2-0 to Sporting KC

July 22, 2020 - Major League Soccer (MLS) - Real Salt Lake News Release

KISSIMMEE, Florida - Real Salt Lake (1-1-1, 4 points) suffered its first defeat of the 2020 season in falling 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in the final Group Stage match of the MLS Is Back Tournament. After a strong start to the Group Stage, RSL clinched advancement to the Round of 16, with the schedule and the opponent still to be determined.

Goalkeeper Zac MacMath finished with three saves, but a goal in the opening minute from Kansas City had RSL chasing the game early on and an 87th minute goal put it out of reach.

Postgame Quotes from RSL v SKC.

Sporting KC immediately took ahold of the match, finding the game's opening goal in just the first minute when Johnny Russell volleyed home a failed RSL clearance inside the box. From there, RSL tried to claw its way back into the game and found success through wide areas but couldn't find a goal before the halftime break.

In the second half, RSL saw the majority of the possession but failed to truly test Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia. Head Coach Freddy Juarez utilized all five of his available substitutions in search of fresh legs and a goal, but it was Sporting who struck late through a substitute of their own in Gerso, who's left-footed shot sealed the full three points for the Kansas side.

UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake will now await the result of Minnesota and Colorado to see where it will be seeded in the Round of 16. Minnesota and Colorado kick off at 8:30p MT on ESPN.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:

SKC: Johnny Russell (Alan Pulido), 1st minute: From a corner kick, the ball was never cleared from the area properly and on the third time of asking, Russell volleyed the ball into the net through traffic to take the early lead.

SKC: Gerso (Alan Pulido) 86th minute: A switch from the middle third of the field found Gerson on the right side of the penalty area. Gerson then cut into his left foot before firing a left-footed shot into the far side netting to double the advantage.

NOTES:

- Real Salt Lake advances to the knockout round of the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament where it awaits its opponent in the Round of 16.

- The loss marked Real Salt Lake's first in 2020.

Match: Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting Kansas City

Date: July 22, 2020

Venue: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex; Kissimmee, Florida

Weather: Cloudy and 82 degrees

Scoring Summary: 1 2 F

Real Salt Lake 0 0 0

Sporting Kansas City 1 1 2

SKC: Johnny Russell (Alan Pulido) 1'

SKC: Gerso (Alan Pulido) 86'

Lineups:

Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Aaron Herrera, Justen Glad, Erik Holt, Donny Toia; Everton Luiz, Kyle Beckerman (Pablo Ruiz 64'); Corey Baird (Jeizon Ramirez 77'), Damir Kreilach (Giuseppe Rossi 72'), Justin Meram (Maikel Chang 64'); Sam Johnson (Douglas Martinez HT)

Subs not used: Andrew Putna, Marcelo Silva, Alvin Jones, Justin Portillo, Luke Mulholland, Nick Besler, Tate Schmitt, Milan Iloski

Sporting KC (4-3-3): Tim Melia; Graham Zusi, Roberto Puncec, Graham Smith, Luis Martins (Amadou Dia 67'); Roger Espinoza (Felipe Hernandez 58'), Ilie Sanchez, Gianluca Busio (Gadi Kinda 67'); Khiry Shelton (Daniel Salloi 84'), Alan Pulido, Johnny Russell (Gerso 84')

Subs not used: Richard Sanchez, Winston Reid, Matt Besler, Jaylin Lindsey, Cameron Duke, Wan Kuzain, Erik Hurtado

Stats Summary: RSL / SKC

Shots: 5 / 10

Shots on Goal: 1 / 4

Saves: 3 / 1

Corner Kicks: 2 / 3

Fouls: 11 / 11

Offside: 1 / 2

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:

RSL: Erik Holt (caution) 20'

SKC: Ilie Sanchez (caution) 36'

RSL: Sam Johnson (caution) 40'

RSL: Kyle Beckerman (caution) 55'

SKC: Gianluca Busio (caution) 56'

SKC: Graham Smith (caution) 62'

RSL: Justen Glad (caution) 71'

OFFICIALS:

Referee: Fotis Bazakos

Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Jeremy Hanson

4th Official: Joe Dickerson

VAR: Drew Fischer

AVAR: Logan Brown

Check out the Real Salt Lake Statistics

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