|
RSL return home to face the Los Angeles Galaxy
on Saturday as winners of back-to-back road games for the first
time this season. Salt Lake claimed wins at Houston and at
Colorado to aid its cause in a crowded Western Conference
playoff race.
Salt Lake (12-10-5, 41 points) climbed to fourth in the Western
Conference following a 6-0 drubbing of the Rapids on Saturday.
Two Colorado players were sent off with red cards before
halftime, and RSL took full advantage of the situation.
Jefferson Savarino scored a goal in each half to lead the
onslaught. Five different players found the net to help Salt
Lake claim its 10th Rocky Mountain Cup in the past 12 seasons.
"It shows that (our players) learned a lot throughout the course
of some tough times on the road," RSL coach Mike Petke said,
concerning his team's recent road success. "At the end of the
day, if we're fortunate enough to make the playoffs, we most
likely are going to be on the road for at least a game, so we
have to flip the switch on that mentality and start
understanding how to manage games."
Los Angeles (10-9-8, 38 points) is searching for ways to regain
momentum after picking up just three points in the past five
matches. Four of those matches saw the Galaxy blow leads --
including, most recently, a 1-1 draw with crosstown rival Los
Angeles FC.
The Galaxy sit seventh in the Western Conference, with the top
six making the playoffs. Sixth-place Seattle also has 38 points
but holds the edge in the first tiebreaker, most wins.
Four injured starters -- Romain Alessandrini, Giovani dos
Santos, and Jonathan dos Santos and Michael Ciani -- missed the
match. The Galaxy received some good news when all four
participated to some degree during training sessions heading
into the match with RSL, but the dos Santos brothers and Ciani
are listed as out for Saturday.
"The guys are training. ... We'll see how they react," LA coach
Sigi Schmid told MLSSoccer.com earlier this week. "We need all
hands on deck if we can, but it always comes down to the player
and how symptomatic they are."
A loss to Salt Lake would put Los Angeles six points behind RSL
in the standings. Getting a result against Salt Lake on the
road, though, will be a difficult task.
RSL are unbeaten in 12 straight matches at Sandy, Utah, since
dropping the home opener to Los Angeles FC.
--Field Level Media
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
