These type of situations are supposed to be avoided even with the new law specifically for this and injuries for collisions with GKs. This isn’t a new law thing, this is poor communication from the officiating crew. it’s weird that happened given how the first bald went with the opposite AR. The west side AR and the center communicated offside multiple times in the first half where the whistle went before the AR actually raised their flag
Got seats behind the north goal - it was fun to see the scoring burst up front. Our mids and wingers really put in a lot of work this match. They created all night.
Enjoyed the game. A hopefully cathartic win for RSL and Cordova especially. SKC sucks. Sucks a lot. Espinoza is a douche nozzle and I was very excited to see him sent off to the showers early. Peter Vermes is a douche nozzle. I know you want to try and soften up a defense with some over the top passes to try and open space but RSL does so much better when they simply possess the ball and move through the midfield. It's like night and day. Still think that there could be some improvement by finding someone to start at LB instead of Brody but he had a good game. Glad to see Cordova with a nice goal that required some effort. He was so close to getting 3 goals. If Pablo can crack through to his positive noggin side he just might become a terror. It's all there just waiting to come together. Justen Glad is a beast. That is all. Pablo Ruiz is really starting to become the player everyone thinks he can be. Putting balls on frame is so dangerous. His goal was really special. Meram is playing like he has 3 more seasons left in him. What a delight to watch. Opposing defenses want nothing to do with him. He is clowning them all. Holy crap Loffelsend just might be for real. He was supposed to be on the Monarchs this season. WTF? That was a dangerous tackle and watching the replay it looked bad. I'm sure his foot is sore and all kinds of the color blue today. Screw you Roger. Sava in the middle or wherever he wants to go was fun. Let him go wherever he wants. Nice to see the game with some bite from both sides. I like this rivalry. A great 3 points but just to remember SKC sucks this year. For whatever reason so they should have expected 3 points and about 4 more goals. But still, FUKC. I'll take the 3 points.
Thoughts I was really happy to see the starting lineup. Not because I think it's the perfect solution and will be the long-term answer, but because it was setup in a way to give Savarino freedom. Chang and Meram were the "outside-mids". Ruiz and Loffelsend were told to run around like crazy (as they did) and the outside backs pushed to create width. Watching it play out, it also helped pull some defenders off Cordova in certain situations. Specifically, when the ball was swung from one side of the pitch to the other, and Sava would make a diagonal run - it would pull a CB wider and leave Cordova with space. This is why, IMO, you saw so many switches in play. I know the number of "long balls" is a fun knock on the coaching staff by certain podcasts, but it's effective. It can't be the only idea, but in the right moments it has shown to be a really good way to break down a team. If anyone should know that, it's fans of this club that were around in the days of the diamond. That ball is what opened us up over and over again. SKC wanted nothing to do with this being an "open" game. They were here to frustrate, sit in, defend, and waste time. Their GK was falling on the ball in the 30th minute to time waste. It was ridiculous. I was very scared that it was 0-0 at half because of this. Felt like we were on our way to a frustrating 0-0 draw. Especially because their GK had a hell of a first half. He made 3 or 4 saves that were certain goals and far from "easy" or routine. His last one of the half was off Savarino on a recycled corner kick. That ball fell out to Herrera and featured the best moment of the first half: Herrera absolutely smashing a ball into the ass of Jonny Russell. The second half started poor for the first 3 or 4 minutes. SKC suddenly wanted to press and RSL was willing to just piss the ball away on passes. Brody made a really poor lateral pass and a minute or two later Ruiz did something similar. Had that been against an LAFC level team, I fear those would have turned into goals against. Luckily, they weren't... and RSL unlocked the SKC block with a really nice flow of play. Meram came wide left from a central position. Brody pushed up the pitch and wide. Chang joined in... which was weird but highlighted the fluidity of the front 3 that sat underneath Cordova. Great combo from Meram, Chang, and ultimately Brody with the cross. Great header from Cordova. Much more difficult than the one he missed later. Speaking of that header... what an absolute amazing ball from Herrera. After a poor run of play, he's looked much better of late. I was especially impressed with him and Glad this game. They both hit some ridiculously good diagonal balls to keep SKC off balance. I honestly didn't know which player was getting the red in the Espinoza tackle. Live, from my seat, it looked like both of them lunged in dangerously. On replay, though? It is very obvious Espinoza was out of control on the tackle and committed serious foul play. Major kudos to the referee who was feet away, had the card out almost instantly, and handled what could have easily turned into a fight well. Silva and Ruiz were about to kill Espinoza had that card not been out. The second RSL goal is, I assume, what Pablo wants out of this 2-4-2 system. Cordova drops deeper into play, pulling both CBs towards the East side. Herrera, Chang, Loffelsend, and Ruiz are all in a tight space to complete passes. Meram makes a diagonal run wide, Savarino sprints into the space between Meram and Cordova. It's a very cool run of play, really. The subsequent passing/runs to join the play were fun to watch. I can't think of a better team goal this year. I especially liked the position of supporting players when Ruiz shoots. Loffelsend and Cordova are in the box, in spots to even be passed to should Ruiz prefer that - and there for the rebound if it's saved. That goal ended the game. The remaining 30 or so minutes were just mandatory for the game to be official. SKC was done. That is a team that has given up and I would feel bad if it was anybody but Peter Vermes and SKC. They deserve that. The third RSL goal highlights just how bad SKC defense is. Their right back in this game had an absolute howler. I mean, getting beat by Meram over and over again is one thing... to get beat by the same move, though? Come on man. Not to take anything from Meram - if the shimmy works, use it until they stop it. Also, Savarino scored a header. That should have counted for like 3 goals. The dude couldn't even jump to be as tall as their CBs and won a header IN THE SIX. Just *chefs kiss* The 20 minutes after that were RSL trying to save legs but also kick the shit out of SKC. That it ended 3-0 was kinda sad - there was opportunity there to really run it up. But if we're complaining about winning by only 3 then it was a good night. I was happy that Glad and Sava got to rest at the end. I was happy Julio's injury is apparently not as bad as feared before. Also happy that the block (Luna) got to come play a few more minutes. I was out of town for the cRapids game so this was the first time seeing him in person and... yeah, that dude wears an adult XL for width but a youth XL for length, right?
3. The long diagonal works when it works. The problem I have is that we seem to not have a good answer when it doesn't work. But that's just normal stuff. Every system has its strengths and weaknesses. It seems not to work very well when Glad isn't in the lineup. 5. Great moment, but I'll admit I like Johnny Russell. I would be proud to have him on my team. 9. That's twice in the last 3 games Loeffelsend has been brutalized. Crapids (Max), and then SKC (Espinoza). What are we going to do when Loeffelsend is injured? 13. Not as awesome as Plata's headed goal, but pretty great all the same.
Took my 7 year old to the game last night. I believe it's good first game at the RioT. He found a flag in the trash, it needed a new zip tie. After the game he said RSL won because of the good vibes he was putting out there. He wanted me post online to let everyone know that. I apologize in advance, but he won't be attending on Saturday.
Was the flag actually in the trash or in the bins (which look very much like trash cans) that they're supposed to be returned to after the game? Either way, happy for your son. That was a fun first game experience. While the attendance was paltry, it felt a lot more like people who wanted to be there with the atmosphere. Not your "look how cool I am at a game but not watching it" crowd. I am an old
It was in a white barrel with more trash than you'd expect. It was the last one after we held off on getting one due to the weather earlier in the evening. You're last comment reminded me of the seats two rows behind us, the ones that belong to the Zagg(?) Club seats. Those were barely used and they are great seats. It's a shame how many lost their season tickets there.
We are operating under different definitions of sellouts, and that's fine https://t.co/0wvziMjXbL— Trevor Brady (@trevor_brady) July 18, 2022
I thought it was more the 106F an hour before the game and then the gnarly thunderstorm. Add on our recent form and people just said, “Naw, man. I’m good watching it on my tv”.
There may have been a special Sunday game at home I'm not quite remembering right now, but I can't think of any Sunday home game at the Riot where you couldn't make out vast amounts of the "REAL SALT LAKE" on the East side.
That match was in no way a sell-out, but it was one of RSL’s best matches of the year. Really hope this match sparks Cordova because he could be key to this clubs season. Gotta Love Savarino, team MVP after only 7 matches.
They definitely treated @george and family better on your lone trip to the stadium this year, as compared when Ismitje and family made our trip for the 0-0 game against Columbus.