Real Salt Lake snaps Sounders win streak

The Seattle Sounders 13 game unbeaten streak came to an abrupt halt Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium with a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake. While the Sounders did not lose any games during the unbeaten streak, they left points on the table due to the high number of ties. Going into the Real game the Sounders were on the heels of four consecutive draws.

The Sounders inability to score goals had been a nagging issue and now has become a full blown predicament. The Sounders have not scored a goal in their last two games. The Sounders have lost their shooting boots and with just four games left in the regular season, they need to find the boots with a quickness.

Will Bruin
Sounder Will Bruin attempts a shot. ( SoundersFC)

Against  Real, the Sounders were even with the home side statistically and the game was scored at halftime.  Real pushed the tempo of the game and took the 1-0 lead in the 51st minute on a right-footed blast from Jefferson Savarino. Luke Mulholland made it 2-0 fifteen minutes to give Real its fourth win in five games.  The win puts Real in the fifth place in the Western Conference just three points behind the Sounders who are in fourth place.

The Sounders will not have much time to search and find their shooting boots with Western Conference leaders and Cascadia Rivals Vancouver Whitecaps visiting CenturyLink Field on Wednesday night for a 7:30 p.m. battle of the West clash.

“We need to just finish chances. We had a chance early in the game that goes 1 nothing in our favor. Then after that, we didn’t create enough consistent pressure on them. ” Head coach Brian Schmetzer said  after the game.”We didn’t play with enough patience at the attacking end of the field. Better opportunities will come if you keep procession of the ball and move the ball around. We’re just searching for that one guy to break us out of the slump.”

 

MATCH SUMMARY
 
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – Real Salt Lake 2
Saturday, September 23, 2017
 
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium
Referee: Sorin Stoica
Assistants: Jeff Muschik, Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Drew Fischer
VAR: Jon Freemon
Attendance: 19,786
Weather: Clear
 
SCORING SUMMARY
RSL – Jefferson Savarino (Albert Rusnak) 52′
RSL – Luke Mulholland (Jefferson Savarino, Joao Plata) 66′
 
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
 
SEA – Kelvin Leerdam (caution) 57′
SEA – Lamar Neagle (caution) 90’+6′
 
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Román Torres, Gustav Svensson, Nouhou (Joevin Jones 61′); Osvaldo Alonso – captain; Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro (Chad Marshall 86′), Clint Dempsey, Victor Rodriguez; Will Bruin (Lamar Neagle 72′)
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Tony Alfaro, Aaron Kovar, Jordy Delem
Total shots: 11 (Dempsey, 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (Dempsey, 2)
Fouls: 11 (Leerdam, 3)
Offside: 4 (Four players, 1)
Corner-kicks: 2 (Lodeiro/Rodriguez, 1)
Saves: 3 (Frei, 3)
           

Real Salt Lake – Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Marcelo Silva, Justen Glad, Danilo Acosta; Kyle Beckerman, Luke Mulholland, Joao Plata (David Horst 87′), Albert Rusnak, Jefferson Savarino (Sebastian Saucedo 90’+4′); Brooks Lennon (Sunny 78′)

Substitutes not used: Matt Van Oekel, Chris Wingert, Jose Hernandez, Yura Movsisyan

Total shots: 13 (Rusnak, 6)
Shots on goal: 5 (Rusnak, 3)
Fouls: 12 (Rusnak, 3)
Offside: 1 (Savarino, 1)
Corner-kicks: 1 (Rusnak, 1)
Saves: 4 (Rimando, 1)

 

 

 

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