Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni was seeing red after no card was handed out for a foul that “ruptured” RSL defender Alex Katranis’ eardrum.
Late in the first half of Sunday night’s game, LAFC winger Sergi Palencia raised his arm and collided with Katranis. There was no card given or video review of the play, which resulted in Katranis leaving the match.
“You can hear the elbow or the arm to the face and then we have to sub out Katranis because he ruptured his eardrum,” Mastroeni said. “I don’t know if this ever happens. We have just been on the wrong side of all these things. … That’s a game-changing moment.”
LAFC went on to score two goals in stoppage time — one from Denis Bouanga and another from former Tottenham star Heung-Min Son — to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. RSL went on to lose 4-1, the same score by which LAFC won in Sandy just days earlier.
“They’re world-class up front,” Mastroeni said. “... I mean, there’s a reason why you pay $25 million for a player that scored 20 goals in the Premier League for the last 5 years, and then he comes to a league that isn’t, you know. [Son is] just a killer. I don’t know what to tell you.”
The latest loss dropped Salt Lake to 12th place in the Western Conference, three points behind FC Dallas for the final wildcard spot, leaving Mastroeni searching for answers.
“This game is about moments, and I think the guys are getting into good spots,” the coach said. “... They’re pros. They’ve got to make plays. We can talk about the tactics to get here … but we just have to make plays. There’s no magic pill here. We’re not going to bring anyone in that’s going to score a ton of goals. We’re not going to bring in a big guy that’s going to block a ton of goals.”
RSL now returns home to take on Austin and Colorado.
“We’ve got to win both of those. The next two home games are critical,” Mastroeni said. “We just have to go and really take our frustration and our anger in a positive way against two teams at home, and that’s going to decide the season for us.”