Real Salt Lake tops FC Cincinnati 3-0 to claim season's first road win

SALT LAKE CITY — Friday night's Major League Soccer contest featuring Real Salt Lake and FC Cincinnati was, in many regards, an expansion team tilt.

And the 2005 expansion side told the 2019 newcomers, "Welcome to the league."

With a brace holding his middle fingers together, Albert Rusnak scored a brace while Sam Johnson added a goal for the second-straight match to lift Real Salt Lake to a 3-0 win over FC Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It was the first road win of the season for Real Salt Lake, which improved to 3-4-1 and 10 points in the standings with its second-straight victory.

And just like that, the legend of "Four-Fingered Albert" was born.

"It feels good, not just the win, but the way we played finally on the road," Rusnak said. "The style that we want to have at home, we need to present that way on the road as well.

“Maybe not every game. But I think all around, it’s a good day for us."

RSL head coach Mike Petke echoed the sentiments of Rusnak, who now leads the team with four goals to go along with an assist.

"Obviously, I'm very pleased. It's not about the win … but the way they played," Petke told RSL team reporter Samantha Yarock. "It's not like we don't train to play like that every week. But this team has been through some rough patches, and when we put it all together, we play really well.

"We have to do that more consistently."

Cincinnati (2-4-2, 8 points) kept the game gridlocked for the first 40 minutes, and even opened the game out-shooting RSL 3-0.

But the visitors were just biding their time.

Just moments after being examined by the medical staff with a finger injury, Rusnak gave RSL the lead. The Slovakian international picked up Corey Baird's saved shot near the top of the box in the 42nd minute and rifled home a goal past Cincinnati goalkeeper Spencer Richey to put Real Salt Lake up.

Johnson doubled the advantage a few moments later. After Richey saved attempts from Rusnak and Damir Kreilach, Johnson cleaned up a deflection in front of goal to put the visitors ahead 2-0 over the expansion side at the break.

"At the beginning of the game, it was a little bit difficult," Johnson said of the halftime lead. "But I knew I had to go.

"It was good pressure from the team … and then I just did the finishing."

Rusnak pushed the lead to 3-0 just before the hour spot, converting from the penalty spot after Jefferson Savarino drew a penalty kick on a counter attack. Sporting a pointer brace, the four-fingered bandit stutter-stepped then rifled the ball into the upper 90 to give RSL a lead it would never relinquish.

Just call him "Albert of the Four Fingers," (hat tip to team broadcaster Brian Dunseth). After the highest-paid player in team history went down with what looked to be a broken finger, Rusnak helped turned the club around to pummel Cincinnati with three goals in just under 20 minutes and seize a commanding lead.

"I saw my finger was out of place, and it wasn't a question of me not continuing," Rusnak said via the KSL.com live stream. "If it was on my foot, my toe, that would be a different story. My hand is not that important to the game, and I knew I was going to play on.

"The pain kicked in. But when you score a goal, you don’t feel the pain."

Good thing you don't use your hands in soccer, right, coach?

"I’m sure it was very painful," Petke said. "But Albert got up, got it popped back in, and scored again."

Baird helped set up both of the first two goals, with a saved shot in the 42nd minute and a pass-before-the-assist in the second minute of first-half stoppage time before making way for Bofo Saucedo in the 74th minute.

It was, in many ways, a complete performance for Real Salt Lake — and away from Rio Tinto Stadium, no less. Cincinnati out-shot the visitors 13-10 with wild kicks. But Salt Lake held nearly 50 percent of possession and had a 7-1 advantage in shots on target.

Real Salt Lake was playing without goalkeeper Nick Rimando. The 39-year-old netminder was injured in training earlier in the week, and backup Andrew Putna made the second start of his MLS career after being signed from Real Monarchs last July.

Putna made one save and one crossed pulled down to earn the shutout, his first in MLS play.

Both teams played in eco-friendly kits made from recycled plastics as part of Major League Soccer's Earth Day initiative through adidas Parley. It's the third-straight year of the partnership, which threads the sporting supplier’s Climate fabric with yards comprised of Parley Ocean Plastic collected on beaches and in coastal communities.

Next up

Real Salt Lake continues its two-match road swing next week when it visits Zlatan Ibrahimović and the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday, April 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MDT on KMYU and KSL.com.

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