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SANDY — Real Salt Lake was held scoreless at home in a draw against the Columbus Crew Saturday at Rio Tinto Stadium after scoring six goals in its last three matches.
"For as much as we didn't create tonight, I thought we defended well," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "So whilst it wasn't a great performance, it was a good enough performance to get a point."
The point from the draw keeps RSL in second place in the Supporters Shield league-wide standings, just a point behind LAFC.
It was Pride Night at Rio Tinto Stadium, a tradition started in 2018 when RSL was the first pro team in Utah to host one.
The start of the game was spoiled a bit by a store fire a few blocks from the stadium, causing smoke to pass by and through Rio Tinto Stadium. The fire department was able to tame the fire by the 20th minute of the match.
RSL owned the attacking chances in the opening minutes, with two corner kicks and a laser-beam shot from Rubio Rubin that was blocked out of bounds in the eighth minute. A header from Justen Glad went just wide of goal in the 21st minute, keeping the two teams scoreless early.
Goalkeeper of the Year candidate Zac MacMath made his first save in the 24th minute when a deep lob shot from Columbus nearly sailed into the far corner of the goal.
A series of injury breaks slowed down the match considerably late in the first half, but a shot from outside the box by Pablo Ruiz in the 42nd minute woke up any sleeping fans. Unfortunately for RSL, the shot was saved by Crew goalkeeper Eloy Room to keep the match level at 0-0.
Outside-the-box shot from Pablo Ruiz saved in the 42nd minute #RSLpic.twitter.com/LTa8CyNB3L
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) June 26, 2022
Fan frustration with the referee boiled over at the end of the first half when Marcelo Silva was given a yellow card and Ruiz was called for a foul on an offensive breakaway. Boos rained down at Rio Tinto as the whistle blew for halftime.
The tight first half was reflected in the stats, with RSL owning just a 53-47% lead in possession and 3-2 lead in shots. Just 0.2 expected goals were created by the home team in the opening half, and zero for the visiting Crew. Nine fouls were called on RSL, with the Crew picking up just five.
Fouls marred the start of the second half, as well, with four called in the opening 10 minutes. Columbus got a dangerous quick cross into the box in the 58th minute, but Glad was able to send it wide of the goal for a corner.
RSL had a pair of chances in the 62nd minute, with Justin Meram firing a long-distance shot that was parried away by the keeper and Silva coming up short on a header 30 seconds later.
Scott Caldwell, who was subbed on in the second half, put together a beautiful offensive build-up with Sergio Cordova and Jefferson Savarino in the 81st minute, but the shot from Cordova went wide of the goal in the end.
The final chance for RSL came off of a deep throw-in from Aaron Herrera that found its way to Glad, but the shot just didn't have enough power and was easily grabbed by the keeper.
Shot from Glad off a long throw-in from Herrera saved in the 88th minute. Both teams running out of juice. #RSL#Crew96pic.twitter.com/IaGLJWHq1s
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) June 26, 2022
"We just couldn't find that rhythm that we had at the first 10-15 minutes where I thought we were decent to start the game," MacMath said. "We just kind of fell flat a little bit. We couldn't really regain that energy that we started with."
RSL still remains undefeated in MLS play at home this season. The Claret and Cobalt travel to Minnesota to take on Minnesota FC on July 3 at 6 p.m. MDT.
