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SANDY — Real Salt Lake returned home and returned to a win Sunday with a 3-0 victory over rival Sporting Kansas City at Rio Tinto Stadium.
The win marked the team's first victory since June 18 against San Jose.
"I thought guys today might have played the most complete performance of the season," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "Which is not easy to do after the last four results haven't gone our way. I couldn't be more proud of the guys to really believe, dig in and put forth a great performance."
RSL also had its preferred lineup back against Sporting KC, with center back Justen Glad back in the starting lineup after three games, and Jefferson Savarino reignited the attack after a one-game absence.
"We've been getting scored on, and when you get scored on early, it kind of takes the wind out of your sails a little bit," Glad said of the team's recent struggles. "Tonight the attackers had a nose for goal, felt like they wanted to score. It was incredible from the whole team."
The home crowd fueled a relentless RSL attack in the opening minutes at Rio Tinto, with six shots from the Claret and Cobalt in the opening 15 minutes to just one from Kansas City.
The first real chance for RSL came in the eighth minute as Maikel Chang made his way up the right flank and laid it off to Jasper Loffelsend, who lobbed a cross far post that found the feet of Andrew Brody. The pass was just a little too late, however, as Brody sent it out of bounds with his lunging attempt.
Two minutes later, Brody found himself in the box with the ball, but this time elected to pass to Sergio Cordova instead of attempting a shot himself. Cordova's shot was blocked and the ensuing Savarino shot off the rebound was sent wide by the goalkeeper.
RSL had another flurry of offensive activity in the 26th minute, started by a free kick earned by Loffelsend in the attacking third. The free-kick shot from Pablo Ruiz was saved heading into the upper 90, and an acrobatic shot from Savarino off the resulting corner kick was also saved, which left the game leveled at 0-0 heading to the 30-minute mark.
Jefferson Savarino nearly puts home this acrobatic finish off a corner kick rebound, but not to be. #RSLpic.twitter.com/hyL2utYPfb
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) July 18, 2022
The home team led 10-2 in total shots and 6-1 in shots on goal at the half, but Kansas City was able to escape to the locker room level with RSL. Sporting KC led the possession battle by a hair, 52-48%, at the break.
Cordova silenced the doubters and got the breakthrough goal for RSL in the 50th minute when a cross from Brody found the forward in the box and he headed it straight home. The goal gave Cordova the lone lead for most goals on the team this season with four.
RSL kept its foot on the gas pedal, owning 70% of possession over the following five minutes after the opening goal. Cordova nearly had a second in the 55th minute off of a cross into the box from Aaron Herrera, but the header went just wide of the goal.
The match moved further into RSL's favor in the 60th minute when Roger Espinoza was given a red card for a foul on Loffelsend. Following a break for injury and discipline, the match resumed and RSL put together a scoring drive downfield.
Meram got the ball on the left flank, laid it off to Savarino, who then made the extra pass to Ruiz, whose left foot sent the ball rolling into the bottom of the far post. RSL had its second 2-0 lead in as many home games, hoping the end result would be different this time.
Our midfield maestro 💫 pic.twitter.com/Fc3FqYP4fD
— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) July 18, 2022
Like clockwork, RSL got its third goal and insurance score in the 71st minute when Meram sent a curler into the box and Savarino headed it home for his fourth goal of the season, matching Cordova's lead.
The assist made Meram just the 24th player in MLS history to record 50 goals and 50 assists in their career.
The 3-0 lead allowed Mastroeni to comfortably relieve two of his starters in Cordova and Loffelsend after playing three matches in nine days. Nicker Besler came on for Loffelsend and Anderson Julio for Cordova.
Savarino nearly had a brace just minutes later on a clean-up shot in the box, but was called offside, depriving fans of an unbelievable fourth goal.
"With every game, you learn a little bit about yourself," Mastroeni said. "From a mentality standpoint, I think tonight we learned a lot about ourselves as far as the chemistry among the players on the field."
The Claret and Cobalt stay at home for a tilt against FC Dallas on July 23 at 8 p.m. MDT at Rio Tinto Stadium.
