Real Salt Lake: RSL Thrashed by Elis, Houston
Real Salt Lake collapsed on the first leg of their Texas road trip, falling 5-1 against the Houston Dynamo. Here’s what stood out from the match.
In 2015, CONCACAF Olympic Men’s Soccer Qualifying rolled through Salt Lake City with the knockout stage taking place at Rio Tinto Stadium. The United States, featuring former RSL prospect Luis Gil, had dominated Group A with a combined score of 13-2, earning all nine points and finding themselves needing just one more victory from securing a spot at the World’s Games.
They drew a young Honduras side, who had taken second in Group B, in what looked to be a very winnable contest. Real Salt Lake fans who attended the match would witness a then 19-year-old Alberth Elis terrorize the US for 86 minutes before being subbed off. Elis would finish with two goals, Honduras would secure the automatic Olympic spot, and the young US squad would end up missing the tournament altogether.
We feel for any RSL fans who had those nightmares play out in front of them, again, yesterday.
Alberth Elis
Just two minutes into the match, the now 21-year-old Elis who has acquired the nickname La Pantera (the Panther), got on the wrong side of Justin Schmidt and forced Matt Van Oekel into an awkward clearance. The Dynamo retained possession, and Elis got the best of Schmidt again, this time forcing the left-back into an own goal.
It was a sign of things to come.
While La Pantera wouldn’t register a goal himself, he shredded RSL down the left side for the rest of the match, playing a key role in three of the Dynamo’s next four goals. Elis would cut past Schmidt and Kyle Beckerman before freezing Chris Schuler and laying the ball off to Cubo Torres. Torres simply flicked the ball on to Mauro Manotas who would beat Van Oekel one on one for the score.
Just after halftime, Elis would torch Schmidt on a counter, getting to the end line before crossing the ball back to Cubo Torres for the simple tap in and Houston’s fourth goal of the match. Fifteen minutes later, Elis would get around Schmidt once again, forcing Schmidt into a desperation clearance that resulted in a corner. Houston would subsequently score on the following possession as RSL tried to clear off the corner. Elis was mercifully pulled from the match three minutes later.
Real Salt Lake
There were few bright spots for RSL on the night. Albert Rusnák had another solid performance while Jefferson Savarino showed more brilliance. Joao Plata scored on a pretty set-piece shot after asking to take the shot before being subbed off. Defender Tony Beltran summed up the team’s performance in the post game.
"“It was embarrassing the way we played in the first half. It’s just not acceptable. I don’t care where we are playing or how hot it is. It’s just not good enough… It was an opportunity for a six-point game and instead it goes the other way. The Western Conference is good and if we’re not careful we’ll get left behind. We are too good of a team to (lose like this). We’ve got to figure things out. We’ve got to put some points together.”"
The club has a short turnaround as they play at FC Dallas on Saturday, but will be without several key pieces. Savarino will be back in SLC with the Venezuelan Nation Team, Sunny will be on yellow card suspension, Luis Silva is getting married, and Nick Rimando will also miss out on national team duty.
Next: Five Takeaways From Wednesday's Action
Looking Ahead
RSL will then have a short break before traveling to play the Sacramento Republic of USL in Real’s first match of Open Cup play, then hosting Minnesota United on June 17. Save an injury against Dallas, it will be the first time this season that Mike Petke will have the chance to choose from anyone on the roster, as the U-20 World Cups wraps up June 11.