Here are three takeaways from Real Salt Lake’s 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.
1. A seed is all that’s left
Real is in the playoffs. They did it. That part is over. They can rest easy knowing some pressure has been alleviated.
But there’s still work to do. After Sunday’s games, RSL is still fifth in the Western Conference standings with 50 points. The good news: fifth is the lowest it can go. The bad news: fifth is still very much a possibility.
RSL’s final game is next Sunday against the already eliminated Vancouver Whitecaps. The same Whitecaps that beat the L.A Galaxy 4-3 on Sunday. They might be looking to play spoiler to Salt Lake just like they did L.A. And RSL will have to be careful about that.
If RSL wins, they’ll end up with 53 points and 16 wins. Both Minnesota and Seattle have 53 points now and still have a game to play — against each other.
The Galaxy have 51 points and play Houston for their final jaunt of the season. If they win, that’s 54 points, which will surpass RSL even it beats Vancouver.
For RSL to nab a home game in the first round, the game between Minnesota and Seattle would need to end in a tie, Real need to beat Vancouver, and the Galaxy need to lose or tie. All that would put RSL in fourth place. It’s a long shot, but it’s possible.
So even though RSL has the playoffs in hand, the upcoming Whitecaps game will be huge.
“We’re fighting for home games in the playoffs,” forward Corey Baird said. “I think we’ve shown how strong we are at home, and although we know we can go on the road and get a W, I think being at home is a big advantage for us. This is a game where, if we don’t win, we’re still in the playoffs, but it’s something that’s really important to us.”
2. Bofo’s moment of impact
After goalkeeper Nick Rimando finished his postgame media session, Sebastian Saucedo went up to his locker and congratulated him. The first thing Rimando said in return was how Saucedo helped the team when he entered the game.
Saucedo took the field in the 67th minute, replacing Damir Kreilach. Interim coach Freddy Juarez said he felt Kreilach started to get tired, so that could have been the reason for that change.
Saucedo made an immediate impact on the game when he got out there. Juarez said he drew defenders and fouls, and played with intelligence. All that helped RSL have more of the ball.
“It allowed us to really get ahold of the game and start possessing well,” Juarez said of Saucedo. “He was getting forward to the final third and really backing up Houston so that we could get in better positions on the field.”
Saucedo provided the assist on Jefferson Savarino’s game-winning goal. In the clip below, it’s apparent that Saucedo’s possession and well-timed pass gave Savarino the opportunity to make easy work of his shot.
“Every time Bofo got the ball, he was drawing a second and third defender today,” Juarez said. “Once he spotted that, he found the open man, and that was important.”
3. Nedum Onuoha and Marcelo Silva formed a strong strategic partnership
Fans probably noticed that defender Justen Glad wasn’t in the starting 11 Sunday. While it’s easy feel deja vu about the end of last season and Glad’s mysterious benching, it didn’t seem like that was the case this time around.
Juarez said that with Houston’s Alberth Elis and [Mauro] Manotas, it made more tactical sense to insert Silva at center back for Glad. The move seemed to work, too, because both Silva and Onuoha were everywhere defensively and broke up a lot of plays.
“I think they proved us right,” Juarez said of Onuoha and Silva. “It was a good pair.”
Glad did make a couple of costly mistakes Wednesday against the Galaxy that cost RSL at least one goal. So that could have also factored in to Juarez’s decision to sit him against the Dynamo.
But Juarez also made clear that Glad was not in the doghouse in any way.
“It has nothing to do with we don’t like Justen Glad,” Juarez said. “He’s just as important as everyone else. I know how good that kid is and how good he’s going to be later in the future.”
Follow @AlexVReporting