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SANDY — Real Salt Lake found itself on the wrong end of a lucky break when the Vancouver Whitecaps were awarded a penalty kick in the 91st minute.
The Whitecaps goal gave the club three points in a 2-1 win for the bottom-four MLS squad.
"Tough result," Justin Meram said. "We fought hard. Just the way it goes sometimes."
Disaster struck RSL in the 91st minute as Herrera was shown a red card for a tackle in the box and Vancouver was given a penalty shot. Ryan Gauld converted the penalty to give the Whitecaps the lead in stoppage time.
RSL led 59% on possession and 10-6 on shots in the match, but it was a single foul in transition that made the difference in a match of "moments," as head coach Pablo Mastroeni said.
"We played a really good game," Mastroeni said. "Unfortunately, the game comes down to moments."
Vancouver pressured RSL's side of the field in the opening 10 minutes, forcing Zac MacMath to make an early save on a shot on goal. RSL slowed the game down and was able to take control of the ball — at one point leading the possession battle with 61% — despite not getting a shot off until the 27th minute.
The first shot came from Maikel Chang after Aaron Herrera sent the ball into the box and Bobby Wood struggled with a scrum of Whitecaps. Chang charged in and struck the ball, but it sailed over the crossbar.
Vancouver took the lead in the 31st minute off a long throw-in that found its way to the feet of Ranko Veselinovic and into the back of the goal. MacMath immediately yelled at his RSL teammates for losing track of Veselinovic on the play and allowing him to get open for the shot.
The Whitecaps led 4-2 on shots and 2-0 on shots on goal in the first half, despite owning just 40% of possession on their home turf.
RSL was able to turn chaos into success early in the second half as Sergio Cordova's header was saved, but it may have crossed the goal line, which resulted in confusion from both teams. Justin Meram took advantage and was able to get back behind enemy lines to slot one into the back of the net and bring RSL level in the 52nd minute.
Justin Meram with the equalizer for @realsaltlake! pic.twitter.com/cK1DrydM23
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 5, 2022
RSL's prized winger Jefferson Savarino entered the match in the 60th minute for Chang and immediately made an impact. He launched a shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal that was saved. The rebound came to Cordova, but his shot was also blocked.
Positive wing-back play from Herrera resulted in a shot on the edge of the 18-yard box in the 81st minute for Pablo Ruiz that struck the right goal post and bounced away, denying the Argentine a potential game winner.
Vancouver came back and almost had a game winner of its own, but Tosaint Ricketts was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.
18-year-old Diego Luna made his debut in the 88th minute after being signed by the club earlier this week from El Paso Locomotive in the USL.
Vancouver countered following an RSL set piece in the 91st minute and Herrera slid to stop the push, but he arrived just a fraction of a second late and receiving a red card. The foul was in the box and resulted in a penalty that turned into the game-winning goal.
The Claret and Cobalt have a break next week before returning to Rio Tinto Stadium for a match against San Jose on June 18.
