Real Salt Lake: RSL opens Petke era with an unforgettable night

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Apr 8, 2017; Sandy, UT, USA; Real Salt Lake midfielder Luke Mulholland (center) reacts after scoring a goal during the second half against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports /

The return of the RSL attack

Arguably the most exciting aspect of Petke’s debut was the return of Real’s free-flowing attack. At his introductory press conference, Petke described the attack as, “an animal ready to be released from its cage”. His debut certainly added a lot of bite to it.

Albert Rusnák had his best game to date, finishing with a goal and two assists. The attacker terrorized the Vancouver back line. The Caps were forced to shift from their 3-5-2 formation to a four man back line after Rusnák’s goal in the 54th minute.

Joao Plata had several great looks in the first half to open up his goal count for 2017. Even taking his frustrations out on the net after his third miss. He was also noticeably frustrated to be pulled in the 60th minute.

While the goals would have been nice, at least its nice to see Plata finding his old form again. Petke had Plata roam more towards the middle instead of staying out wide as he has in recent contests. Not only did it allow for more chances, but it also opened up Yura Movsisyan. Yura has found the back of the net in three of the last four games, but the overall play between the front four gave fans the show they have been hoping for.

Moving forward

Real will now go on the road to face a struggling Colorado Rapids side. The win over Vancouver jumped RSL from last place to eighth, vaulting three of their Western Conference opponents. Five games in to the season the standings don’t matter much, but Real has a chance to make up some ground from their slow start with a winnable contest on the road.

The urgency to win at Colorado is amplified even more with the upcoming schedule. Following the trip to Denver, upstart Atlanta United come to town. The team will then travel to Kansas City to face hated rival SKC before FC Dallas caps off the tough three-week grind. Getting more continuity in the new playing style before facing three of the league’s top teams will be key to getting results.

Next: USMNT to host Venezuela at Rio Tinto

Overall, the Mike Petke era seems to be headed in the right direction. Even with the small sample size, the changes have been noticeable. RSL continue their reboot this week, and things should only get better as the team gets healthy.

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