By Franco Domínguez
Real Salt Lake earned a 3-0 win against FC Juárez on Tuesday at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, in a first-ever encounter as the two unbeaten clubs sought to help their chances of advancing to the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.
Juárez entered the match with six points and in position to advance to the quarterfinals. Real Salt Lake entered with four points and needed a victory to keep its quarterfinal hopes alive.
Real Salt Lake broke through in the 29th minute after a handball by Jesús Murillo inside the area resulted in a penalty. Morgan Guilavogui stepped up and converted from the spot to give his team a 1-0 lead.
RSL continued to control the match after halftime, adding a second goal through Sergi Solans in the 53rd minute.
Lineker Rodrigues sealed the victory in the 68th minute, finishing a well-worked team move that included an assist from DeAndre Yedlin.
Real Salt Lake reached seven points and will await results from the other teams to learn its fate in the Leagues Cup.
Meanwhile, FC Juárez will finish with six points and must wait for other results to find out if it will advance.
REACTIONS
- Real Salt Lake Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
- "A lot of positives to take away from this game, but the biggest positive was the way we defended the box, corners, and set pieces."
- FC Juárez Head Coach Salvador Valero
- "I thought we deserved more, but we have to recover because we have a very important match in Monterrey ... These games will help for league play."
PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
- Real Salt Lake
- Lineker Rodrigues scored the third goal following a well-worked team play and led the team with two shots on goal.
GAME NOTES
- The match marked the first official meeting between Real Salt Lake and FC Juárez.
- This was the second consecutive game that Real Salt Lake scored three or more goals while maintaining the shutout.
- Pablo Ruiz and Sergi Solans scored in two of the three Phase One matches.
CARDS/INJURY REPORT
- Yellow Cards:
- Real Salt Lake: Pablo Ruiz (40’), DeAndre Yedlin (74’), Sergi Solans (74’)
- Juárez: Jairo Torres (33’), Jesús Murillo (38’), Gilberto Sepúlveda (80’)
LOOKING AHEAD
- Real Salt Lake returns to MLS play in a August 15th matchup vs Minnesota United.
- Juárez is back to Liga MX where they play Monterrey on August 15th.
