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SANDY — Real Salt Lake ended a two-game home skid and continued Sergio Cordova's hot streak in front of goal, but the club was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against the Vancouver Whitecaps at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday.
"It feels like we dropped 2 points," RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "It's a game of moments and making plays. I thought tonight, offensively, we did a lot of things that we wanted to do. I think we created enough chances to score a couple and then the game is defined by one defensive play."
Both attacks were relentless throughout the game and were eventually rewarded in the second half.
The home team started the attack early, with three shots in the opening nine minutes, and was the first to find the back of the net in the 61st minute.
Jasper Loffelsend found Cordova on a perfectly-weighted, curling through ball, and the striker did the rest: dribbling away from a defender and calmly slotting home his seventh goal of the season and his third in the last three matches.
From hitting the goal post on one end of the field to hitting the back of the net on the other end!
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 21, 2022
Solid team build up for @RealSaltLake's opening goal. pic.twitter.com/1P7h6RpcrD
The goal was primed by Cordova's partner up top, Jefferson Savarino, with a shot on goal saved in the 51st minute and another one hitting the crossbar in the 56th minute. All Cordova had to do was deliver the final blow with RSL's 10th shot of the night.
Following the goal, it was Vancouver's turn to pound the rock, with nine second-half shots, which led to a goal from substitute Julian Gressell in the 87th minute.
Off the header!
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 21, 2022
Julian Gressel with the laaaate equalizer for @WhitecapsFC! pic.twitter.com/h71JucJFBR
The home team was able to keep the majority of possession and the build-up play looked the best it has all season for much of the game and to keep its passing accuracy above 80% from start to finish.
Vancouver was held without a shot on goal in the first half but put up four total shots to RSL's seven. The passing accuracy for the away team started off abysmal — sub-70% — but eventually reached 80% in the second half as the RSL pressure moved back to focus on protecting the goal with the lead in hand.
It was the second week in a row that RSL was forced to endure a barrage of attacks in the final third of the match and the team looked to hold the line like it was able to do in the 2-1 win at Seattle.
"We kind of bunkered down a little bit and unfortunately we couldn't regain possession on the second balls, and that ends up hurting us a bit because when you continue to take wave after wave, it can be difficult," goalkeeper Zac MacMath said. "You're gonna give up chances, and I thought we dealt with most of them; but in the end, it only really matters that they got one."
Mastroeni inserted Erik Holt as an additional center back in the 82nd minute to help manage the added pressure, but it was Holt in the end who was exposed in the box and gave up the header goal to Gressell.
The draw results in a point shared between RSL and Vancouver as both teams fight for a playoff spot over the final stretch of the season. The Whitecaps currently occupy the final playoff spot in seventh place, with RSL 4 points clear of them in fifth.
Another major Western Conference challenge awaits RSL next week as the Claret and Cobalt hit the road to take on third-place FC Dallas next Saturday at 7 p.m. MDT.
