Real Salt Lake Keep Rocky Mountain Cup with 2-2 Draw at Home

July 10, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Real Salt Lake News Release

SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake (8-5-6, 30 points) maintains possession of the Rocky Mountain Cup after a 2-2 draw with Colorado Rapids after goals from Jefferson Savarino and Justin Meram on either side of the halftime break.

In front of a Club-record ninth consecutive sellout, Real Salt Lake looked to maintain possession of the Rocky Mountain Cup. In order to keep the trophy in Sandy, Utah RSL needed to secure a win or a draw against long-time rivals, Colorado Rapids. But the task was made harder when only 15 minutes into the match Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni was forced to make an early change, substituting Justin Meram on for the injured Anderson Julio.

Throughout much of the first half the two sides struggled to dominate possession, alternating half chances on either side of midfield. The Claret-and-Cobalt’s best chance came in the 24th minute when Meram forced a goal-line clearance from one of Colorado’s defenders. In the final minutes of the first half Zac MacMath was forced the make a point-blank save, blocking a shot from Gyasi Zardes to preserve the 0-0 scoreline. With first half stoppage coming to a close, it seemed as the two sides would head into the locker room deadlocked, but a moment of brilliance from Savarino, following passes from Pablo Ruiz and Meram saw RSL take the 1-0 lead.

Real Salt Lake came out of the halftime break swinging, doubling its lead in the 51st minute when Meram headed in a rebound off the crossbar from a Ruiz free kick. Just a few minutes later Sergio Cordova nearly netted one of his own, but his headed shot bounced off the post. Just 13 minutes shy of breaking the Club’s longest home shutout streak, Colorado was awarded a penalty kick after a foul from Marcelo Silva in the box. Diego Rubio was able to bury the shot in the 67th minute.

After lots of back and forth between the two sides, the Rapids found the equalizer in the 89th minute. Zardes rose up and headed the ball ahead to Lalas Abubakar whose right-footed shot snuck past the fingertips of MacMath and into the side netting to knot the score at 2-2. RSL pushed numbers forward looking for the game-winner, but the team was unable to slip one through into the back of the net and the match ended tied 2-2.

UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake heads East to take on Atlanta United FC on Wednesday, July 13 at 5:30 p.m. MT before returning to Rio Tinto Stadium to host long-time rivals Sporting Kansas City on…