Real Salt Lake Triumph at BC Place; Hand Vancouver First Loss
By. Carson Lantz
Real Salt Lake finally returns to action after having a break last week, which felt like an eternity for many. This time around, they’re taking on Western Conference foe from up north, the Vancouver Whitecaps. Unfortunately, Salt Lake is headed to Vancouver, Canada, for this matchup at the well-known BC Place stadium, which is the home of the Whitecaps. This matchup head-to-head is even, as both teams have 13 wins versus one another through 31 matches played. The leading goal-scorer in this matchup is former Salt Lake captain, Damir Kreilach, as he has a total of 7 goals. This match should prove to be a good battle as Vancouver is off to a hot start, sitting in 2nd in the West, and Salt Lake is looking to flip their season around after losing 2 out of 4 matches to start the 2024 MLS season.
Pablo Masteroni’s starting eleven: Zac MacMath in goal, Andrew Brody and Alexandros Katranis as the outside backs, Justen Glad and Brayan Vera as the center-back pairing, Braian Ojeda and Emeka Eneli as the midfield pairing, Fidel Barajas and Bode Hidalgo lined up as the wingers, Chicho Arango as the false nine, and then Anderson Julio as the lone striker. Masteroni had his team lined up in a 4-2-3-1 but shifted a lot to a 4-4-2.
Vanni Sartini starting eleven: Yohei Takaoka in goal, Mathisa Laborda, Ranko Veselinovic, and Tristan Blackmon are the back three center backs, Javian Brown and Ryan Raposo as the wing backs out wide, Pedro Vite and Alessandro Schopf as the midfielder pairing, and then a dangerous front three of Damir Kreilach, Brian White, and Ryan Gauld. Vanni had his team lining up in a 3-4-3.
The first half was a very underwhelming start from Real Salt Lake. For sure it could’ve gone either way as both Salt Lake and Vancouver had chances to score, but in the possession side, the teams were deadlocked at 50/50 possession, neither dominating with the ball. Vancouver looked more comfortable starting off, being fine with RSL putting pressure on them early; that didn’t change their game plan at all as they soaked up all the pressure and attacked with patience. That patience would pay off as Vanni Sartini’s side broke Salt Lake’s defense with striker Brian White slotting a ball right to Damir Kreilach's feet. Damir would comfortably slot the ball past Zac MacMath putting Vancouver up 1-0 in the 33rd minute. That would be all really for the first half action. Salt Lake had 6 shots but couldn’t manage to test Takaoka at all, with 0 of those being on target. The first-half whistle would be blown, and Real Salt Lake would head to the locker room down a goal. Let's see if Masteroni can bring his team together to turn things around.
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