Real Salt Lake falls to Los Angeles in first leg of West semifinal playoff series

Real Salt Lake falls to Los Angeles in first leg of West semifinal playoff series


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CARSON, Calif. — Real Salt Lake fell 0-1 to Major League Soccer opponent the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday night in leg one of the Western Conference semifinal matchup, and now sits down just one goal going into leg two of the series.

The two sides played a scoreless first 45 minutes, but it was Los Angeles that was able to put a goal in the back of the net Sunday night. The goal came just minutes into the second half off a distant strike from defender Sean Franklin in the 48th minute, sending it right past RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

Despite a number of changes on the field in the second half from RSL head coach Jason Kreis and 11 attempts on goal on the night for the players in the Claret and Cobalt, RSL was unable to equalize the match.

The Galaxy were able to use the Salt Lake club’s starting formation of 4-2-3-1 to its advantage Sunday night, finding ways to get through and around the defense. Once Kreis made a handful of early second-half subs, the Salt Lake club seemed a bit more organized, limiting the Galaxy's chances to go up more goals.

The Salt Lake club was without a handful of regularly used strikers Sunday night in Los Angeles who didn’t travel with the club — forwards Olmes Garcia and Joao Plata — but forward Devon Sandoval nearly equalized the match for the Claret and Cobalt just minutes after entering the match in the second half.

RSL finished the night with two shots on target, six off target and three that were blocked by Galaxy goalkeeper Jaime Penedo. The Salt Lake side finished the match with more possession than the California-based club with 50.4 percent to the Galaxy’s 49.6 percent.

RSL will return to Rio Tinto to host the Galaxy in the second leg of the semifinal series on Thursday. In order for RSL to advance in the playoffs to the Western Conference final, it will need to beat the Galaxy by two goals Thursday night, as aggregate scores decide the series.

In the event that Thursday’s match ends in an aggregate tie after the 90-minute regulation, the two sides will play two, 15-minute extra time halfs, and the match will be taken to penalty kicks if necessary.

The last time the two sides met in the playoffs was in 2011 when the Galaxy stole the Salt Lake club’s MLS Cup hopes, beating it in the Western Conference Championship and then going on to win the MLS Cup. Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.

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