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HARRISON, N.J. — A hat trick from Real Salt Lake forward Alvaro Saborio was not enough for the Salt Lake club to pick up points on the road as it fell 4-3 to Major League Soccer Eastern Conference opponent the New York Red Bulls Saturday night.
Saborio’s appearance was his first in more than a month and just his third since April 20 as he returned from international duty with Costa Rica this week.
“It was a big game for us and I scored, but very disappointing with the loss, and now we just continue and we have to prepare for our next game,” Saborio said in the post-match TV interview. “It’s unlucky to lose this game like that, and we have to prepare for the next game.”
New York hit the back of the net early in the 11th minute off midfielder Tim Cahill and again in the 23rd minute off former RSL forward Fabian Espindola on a penalty kick — the first of two awarded to the New York side on the night.
“I think it’s one of those things, there’s contact, both their bodies collide on both the penalty decisions, and that’s exactly what they are,” RSL head coach Jason Kreis said in the post-match TV interview. “You leave it up to the referee to make decisions, and sometimes you’re going to like them and sometimes you’re not.
“I think it’s more important for us to talk about what leads up to those penalty kicks. Especially the second one, because again we’re at the end of a match and we need to handle it better — tactically we just weren’t good enough.”
After going down two goals in the first half, RSL hit the net in the 45th minute off a penalty kick from Saborio, which was awarded after Red Bull defender Markus Holgersson brought down RSL forward Olmes Garcia in the box in the 44th minute.
RSL equalized the match at two goals in the 80th minute off Saborio and jumped ahead of the Red Bulls quickly in the 82nd minute, also off Saborio.
New York’s two late goals in the 89th minute off Espindola’s second penalty of the night and midfielder Dax McCarty in the 94th minute gave the Red Bulls the victory.
RSL was without several regular players due to international duty for midfielder Kyle Beckerman, defender Tony Beltran and goalkeeper Nick Rimando, who are with the U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team in Gold Cup play, and defender Chris Wingert, who was suspended for the match.
The loss moved the Salt Lake club to 11-7-4 on the season, but didn’t bump the club from the top of the Western Conference as it still sits in first place with 37 points.
The Salt Lake club will remain on the road next weekend as it travels to Denver to face the Colorado Rapids Aug. 3. RSL will return to Rio Tinto Stadium Aug. 7 as it hosts the Portland Timbers in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal match. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
