Real Salt Lake moved on to the conference semi-finals to face second seed Seattle Sounders, here’s what you need to know ahead of the match:
1. Real Salt Lake beat Portland at Rio Tinto on Saturday night in round one of the MLS Playoffs. Real showed true domination in the first half and took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to Damir Kreilach, who has four goals in four playoff matches. But Portland came out firing in the second half, scored early through Dairon Asprilla, and showed spells of possession but Real held on, due in large part to Nick Rimando, and eventually found the game-winner in the 87th minute through Jefferson Savarino.
Corey Baird assisted Kreilach’s goal and, while it isn’t being counted in the official statistics, Joao Plata assisted Savarino.
2. Jefferson Savarino has four game-winning goals for Real Salt Lake this season (Atlanta 2-1, Philadelphia 4-0, Houston 2-1, Portland 2-1) but all goals have been scored at Rio Tinto Stadium, much like his other five goals on the season. Real Salt Lake are 1-2-1 against the Sounders in playoffs and 3-9-2 all-time at Seattle. In the regular season Real Salt Lake went 1-1-0 against Seattle with a 0-1 loss on April 6 and a 3-0 win on August 14.
3. Seattle Sounders won their home match against FC Dallas in round one of the MLS Playoffs 4-3. The match was 3-3 at the end of regulation so the teams went into extra time where Jordan Morris completed his hattrick and sealed the win for Seattle. Morris won the MLS Comeback Player of the Year, helping his team with ten goals and seven assists after missing out on the 2018 season with a torn ACL. Seattle are 11-2-4 at home this season, their only losses to Portland and Sporting Kansas City.
Our coverage of Real Salt Lake at Seattle Sounders begins on Wednesday, October 22 at 7 PM.
