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SANDY — Real Salt Lake finished off its busiest month of the season Friday night with a big 4-2 win over Major League Soccer Western Conference opponent the Portland Timbers.
The meeting was the third between the two sides this month, and the Salt Lake club knew exactly what to expect when Portland came to town again.
“I think (Portland) really press, they press, press, press,” said RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman. “Like the first game we played them (this month) in the Open Cup we were able to get on them early, get some goals early and then it forced them to come out. They’re a tough team, they have a formation that makes them tough to play against, but they’re similar games, they’re hard fought games.”
The Salt Lake club started off the match with two early goals and was up 2-0 in the first 15 minutes. Young RSL midfielder Luis Gil hit the back of the net in the ninth minute while forward Joao Plata put one past Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts in the 15th minute.
It was a starting performance RSL sideline boss Jason Kreis couldn’t have been happier about.
“I think obviously it was a fantastic start,” said Kreis. “Two goals in the first 15 minutes and just the tempo of the play in the first half — what we were able to do to get the early on, I think, changed the whole landscape of the match.”
The match turned a bit ugly in stoppage time of the first half when Portland midfielder Ben Zemanski went at RSL midfielder Ned Grabavoy with studs up on a dangerous challenge. Zemanski was shown a straight red card and the Timbers were forced to play a man down for the entire second half.
Portland put two goals past RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando — in the 31st minute off defender Darlington Nagle and one in the 78th minute off midfielder Sal Zizzo, but it wasn’t enough to overturn the home team.
The Salt Lake club’s two other goals on the night came from midfielder Javier Morales in the 55th minute with a tricky bicycle kick right past Ricketts. RSL forward Alvaro Saborio tallied the Salt Lake club’s fourth goal on the night in the 67th minute off a Morales free kick. Saborio returned to the lineup Friday night after missing two games with a calf injury.
The Claret and Cobalt made history with its goals Friday night as the match was the first time in club history the team had scored four or more goals in two consecutive league matches — with four goals coming in its last match just a week ago in a 4-0 win over the Columbus Crew.
“Guys are hungry for goals, confident,” said Beckerman. “I think when you score goals it just breeds more confidence to get even more goals and I think that's what’s going on right now.”
RSL won’t return to action for two weeks when it will travel to face MLS Western Conference opponent the Seattle Sounders on Sept. 13.
It’s a break Kreis welcomes, especially after the result from his roster Friday night.
“That’s the one area I kept thinking about today, was how long two weeks was going to be if we didn’t get a proper result tonight or a proper effort from the guys,” said Kreis. “Really, really pleased that we got a win, now we can take a break — some guys need a break, including the coaching staff.” Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
