Rusnak's stoppage time brace helps Real Salt Lake steal road win at Houston

HOUSTON — Albert Rusnak didn’t start Real Salt Lake’s match in Houston. But there’s no doubt who the most impactful player was by the end of 100 minutes.

Yes, 100.

Rusnak scored two goals in stoppage time, and Real Salt Lake snuck away with three points on the road Saturday night with a 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium.

“I’m over the moon right now, which will be gone in the next 20 minutes. But I’m over the moon for these guys,” RSL coach Mike Petke told team sideline reporter Samantha Yarock after the match.

“It wasn’t an easy game. I thought from the beginning, we took control … and tonight it really clicked as far as specifics from our players. I’m just ecstatic for them, to be honest.”

With the win, Rusnak became the first player in MLS history to score a stoppage time game-tying goal and a stoppage time game-winner in the same match.

Rusnak entered the match as a first-half sub, subbing on for Pablo Ruiz just minutes after Boniek Garcia converted the Dynamo’s only shot on goal of the first half to give Houston a 1-0 lead.

RSL out-shot Houston 13-3, including a 4-1 margin in shots on frame, in the opening half. The visitors put up 25 shots, with only nine of them on frame in the game — but a Herculean effort by starting goalkeeper Andrew Putna kept RSL in the match until the dying moments.

"It's not easy for a player like that to be thrown in last game in a hostile environment, and to come into this game," Petke said of Putna. "I'm sure he felt the weight of the world on him ... And he handled it very well."

Putna finished the match with two saves in his first career start in MLS play.

“This game should’ve been over at halftime,” Rusnak told Yarock candidly. “We shouldn’t have had to fight until the 96th minute for this. I’m glad we cold break the bad form on the road with a win finally. And we’ll do a playoff push.”

But once the regulation clock reached zero, Rusnak went to work.

“Coming in 1-0 down in a game that we dominated in the first half, I told them that the game plan does not change,” Petke said. “We had five clear-cut chances on goal that should’ve went in. There was no need to panic — and they didn’t panic.”

The Slovakian international ripped a one-touch shot from the edge of the arena that caromed off the far post and into the opposite side of the net to tie the match, 1-1.

Jefferson Savarino earned the assist with a one-touch ball from Sebastian Saucedo to set up the equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time.

“I was thinking the whole front four were going to score,” Rusnak said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who scores the goal; it’s three points.”

Saucedo drew a foul in the sixth minute of stoppage time inside the box to set up the game winner. After head referee Armando Villareal went to video review to confirm the foul, Rusnak stepped up to the spot and buried it inside the left post to help RSL steal only its second win on the road.

“We have another road game coming up, and we know that road games are not easy in this league — and they aren’t especially too easy for us,” Rusnak said. “We’ve managed to win just two road games, and we’re still in a playoff race.”

With the win, RSL climbed to fourth place in the Western Conference standings with 38 points, just one point behind LAFC and four points behind leaders Sporting Kansas City and FC Dallas.

“It’s massive for the next week,” Petke said. “Then next week, we have a huge game.

“It’s so tight right now that a loss could drop us out of the playoffs.”

Next up

RSL’s road trip continues Saturday, Aug. 25 at Colorado. Kickoff for the match, which will be streamed live on KSL.com and the KSL TV app, is set for 7 p.m. MT.

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