RSL comes back for 2-1 win in Montreal


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SANDY — Real Salt Lake got a pair of second-half goals to overcome an early deficit and claim its first-ever victory in Montreal Sunday.

"We got a lot of belief as a group," head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. "The guys just stayed the course and played fantastic."

Djordje Mihailovic scored less than a minute into the match to put the home team up 1-0 over RSL, but the Claret and Cobalt struck back with a run from Sergio Cordova that resulted in a corner kick. The cross from Pablo Ruiz found the head of Cordova, but the striker wasn't able to put it on frame.

Montreal appeared to go up 2-0 in the 16th minute, but Romell Quioto was called offside following the breakaway goal. RSL, once again, responded with a chance of its own, but a header from Justin Meram went just wide of the goal in the 21st minute.

A couple more corner kicks and chances found RSL in the lead in expected goals after 30 minutes, 0.5-0.3, but a point-blank header from Bobby Wood was saved and then also called offside to keep Montreal up 1-0.

Another chance came in the final five minutes of the first half as Cordova found himself ahead of the Montreal back line but got tangled up on the edge of the 18-yard box. The ball found its way to Meram who sent the ball well over the goal.

RSL came right back seconds later, with Meram finding Wood on a ground cross, but the point-blank shot was, once again, saved to keep RSL scoreless.

The road team led 0.9-0.3 in expected goals and 53.6% to 46.4% in possession at the half. It was one of the few times RSL led the possession battle this season, at home or on the road.

It didn't take long for RSL to finally get its equalizer in the second half, with Justen Glad heading home a goal off of a corner kick to tie the game at 1-1.

Cordova almost had a second for RSL just two minutes later, but his shot went just wide left for the fifth missed shot of the afternoon from the visiting squad.

The Venezuelan Designated Player finally got his goal to give RSL a 2-1 lead in the 66th minute when he got the ball from Maikel Chang on a back-heel flick, cut inside from the right side of the box and slotted one past the keeper into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Montreal put some pressure on RSL following the second goal and was able to flip the possession battle, owning the ball for large stretches in the final 20 minutes.

Wood had one final chance to get his goal and go up 3-1 in the final minute, but he elected to lay the ball off to his running mate Pablo Ruiz, who wasn't able to get to the ball before the Montreal defense swallowed it up.

The win marked RSL's first victory ever in Montreal and first win over CF Montreal in any venue since 2014.

"We knew going into the game that we just had to stay the course," Glad said. "We showed a lot of fight out there and it's a huge three points."

The three points put RSL in sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference ahead of LA Galaxy.

RSL returns home to take on Houston Dynamo on May 28 at Rio Tinto Stadium, when recent re-acquisition Jefferson Savarino is set to make his return to the fold.

Most recent Real Salt Lake stories

Related topics

Real Salt LakeSports
Caleb Turner covers Real Salt Lake as the team's beat writer for KSL.com, in addition to his role where he oversees the sports team's social media accounts.

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast