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MONTREAL, Quebec (Saturday, May 11, 2013) — Real Salt Lake (5-5-2, 17 points, West #2) lost a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon, giving up two late goals to fall 3-2 to the Montreal Impact (6-2-2, 20 points, East T-2) at Stade Saputo.
Captain Kyle Beckerman put RSL up 2-1 with a 77th minute goal, but the Claret-and-Cobalt couldn't hold the lead, with Montreal FW Marco Di Vaio equalizing from an offside position in the 80th minute before Impact DF Matteo Ferrari found the winner in the 93rd.
RSL - which beat the New England Revolution 2-1 on Wednesday night - is 1-1-0 through the first two games of its three-game road trip. The Claret-and-Cobalt will close the trip next Sunday, May 19, when it will take on Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center.
Real Salt Lake began the game brightly, registering chances in the third and sixth minutes before going ahead through a Ferrari own goal in the seventh. DF Lovel Palmer created the opportunity, collecting a Beckerman through ball on the right flank before ripping a long-range shot that deflected off of Ferrari inside the box and into the back of the net.
RSL nearly made it 2-0 in the 15th minute. MF Sebastian Velasquez danced around a few Montreal defenders in the right side of the box, eventually hitting a low cross to the near post that slipped into the middle of the area. FW Olmes Garcia pounced on the loose ball, firing a right-footed shot with his first touch that somehow deflected off of the leg of Montreal GK Troy Perkins and out for a corner kick.
The game stayed wide open throughout, with Montreal getting a good look at an equalizer in the 17th. MF Felipe found MF Justin Mapp wide open in the right side of the area but Mapp - who had RSL GK Nick Rimando caught off his line - cut back into traffic on his left instead of shooting with his right and saw his shot blocked.
Real Salt Lake had another chance in the 24th minute. MF Javier Morales slipped FW Devon Sandoval into the right side of the area, but the rookie striker couldn't keep his shot on frame, driving his effort over the bar from 15 yards out.
Felipe brought the Impact level in the 39th minute. Mapp collected a DF Jeb Brovsky through ball on the right wing, racing forward for a couple of touches before hitting a cross into the middle. Felipe made a hard-charging run through the box to get to the ball, slotting home inside the far post from eight yards with his first touch.
Felipe's equalizer took the sides into halftime. Like it did in the first, RSL started the second half well, with Morales forcing Perkins into a good stop with a shot from distance in the 47th before Beckerman ripped a 25-yarder inches wide of the right post in the 48th.
Montreal hit back with an opportunity of its own in the 50th minute. FW Andrew Wenger got free on the right wing, dribbling into the box before cutting back on his left foot and firing a low shot that a diving Rimando held.
The match settled down after that, with both sides battling in the midfield and struggling to create chances until Beckerman reclaimed the lead for RSL in the 77th. The goal came off of a Morales corner kick, with Garcia flicking a header from the near post to DF Chris Schuler at the penalty spot. The ball eventually made its way to Beckerman left of the spot, with the Claret-and-Cobalt captain toe-poking a 10-yarder past Perkins and inside the near post.
Unfortunately, RSL's lead was short-lived, as Di Vaio controversially equalized just three minutes after Beckerman's goal. DF Maxim Tissot started the play, dribbling through the middle of the RSL defense before finding Wenger at the top of the box. The 2012 MLS SuperDraft No. 1 pick flicked Di Vaio through in the left side of the box for a scuffed finish off the near post and in. Replays showed that Di Vaio was in an offside position when Wenger played him through.
RSL had a golden opportunity to retake the lead in the 85th minute. Substitute FW Joao Plata - who had only come on seconds earlier - was played behind the Montreal defense by Javier Morales, but the Ecuadorian couldn't beat Perkins, who came well off of his line to deny Plata's shot from 15 yards.
That miss would come back to haunt RSL in the 93rd minute, when substitute MF Blake Smith's corner kick squeaked through multiple players before falling to Ferrari for a solid right-footed finish from just inside the spot.
Real Salt Lake will now return to Utah, where it will put in a full week of training ahead of next Sunday's match at Western Conference foe Chivas USA.
