Real Salt Lake Draw Portland And Clinch Playoffs In Electrifying Match

SANDY, UTAH- After Wednesday’s exciting win against FC Dallas, man of the match Anderson Julio and the other members of Real Salt Lake quickly had to get to resting and recovering due to the rapid turnaround for their match versus the Portland Timbers.

Real Salt Lake entered their battle with the Timbers on Saturday night with the chance to clinch an Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs berth with just a single point. Chicho Arango also had aspirations of history, only one goal away from breaking Real Salt Lake’s long-standing single-season goal record. With so many important pre-match storylines, Saturday’s Fall fixture had the potential to be an instant classic.

Listos para trabajar#RSLvPOR | @Intermountain pic.twitter.com/8vJvCUQInI

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) September 22, 2024

First Half

Real Salt Lake looked determined early, relentlessly pushing the ball into the offensive half. The Timbers felt the pressure early as Diego Luna dribbled the ball up the far side of the field with his teammates making runs into the box. Luna attempted a cross that was deflected by a Portland defender, winning Real an early corner kick.

9th minute, Portland SOG, Antony, weak. Portland’s first chance came in the 9th minute from Antony. His attempt was not hit well, coming off of his foot without much power, making it easy work for RSL keeper Gavin Beavers.

10th minute, Dominik Marczuk goal. Real Salt Lake dominated the stat sheet in the first half, and it didn’t take long for their persistence to pay off. In the 10th minute, Anderson Julio took the ball up the far side of the field, patiently surveying before putting the moves on his defender to create space to get a pass away. The cross off of his right foot found new addition Dominik Marczuk in the box. Despite a heavy first touch, Marczuk possessed the pass, sneaking around a Portland Timber and getting a shot off that passed Portland keeper Maxime Crepeau, finding the right side of the net.

The 10th minute goal for Marczuk was his first MLS and Real Salt Lake goal, and it couldn’t have come at a better time, giving RSL the lead in a potential playoff-clinching match.

You never forget your first as Dominik Marczuk scores his first @realsaltlake goal. It’s 1-0 over @TimbersFC early #RSL | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/C6yEXABM5q

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) September 22, 2024

Dominik Marczuk looked to add another contribution with a shot on goal in the 14th minute that resulted in another Real Salt Lake corner.

In the 19th minute, Real found themselves with a counter-attack chance that created the most aesthetically pleasing change of the first half. Dominik Marczuk stayed on fire, lobbing a beauty of a pass into the box, onto the foot of Anderson Julio, who put just a little too much on his shot as it just such over the bar.

In the 22nd minute, Real Salt Lake found themselves with a man advantage in the box. Diego Luna started the scoring play with a pass toward goal intended for Alexandros Katranis. In an attempt to deter the attack, Maxime Crepeau left his line to defend the ball. Katranis played it, but it deflected off of Crepeau in RSL’s favor right to the feet of Diego Luna, with an open goal in front of him, burying it into the back of the net.

The score was initially disallowed, but after a VAR review, the goal was given and Real Salt Lake had themselves a 2-0 lead in the first half.

It took a very loooooooong and lengthy VAR check but the goal stands. Diego Luna doubles the @realsaltlake lead in the first half #RSL | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/LKMutwaady

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) September 22, 2024

Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers continued trading blows, but not many more chances were created throughout the rest of the first 45′, making the score at halftime Real Salt Lake 2, Portland Timbers 0.

Second Half

Frustration for Portland began to boil over early in the second half with three Timbers being booked in the first 16 minutes. All were yellow cards, given to Eryk Williamson, Kamal Miller, and Evander.

Interactions continued to be less than friendly between the two squads, players were face-to-face in many instances and players pushed and shoved on both sides.

In the 61st minute, Chicho Arango was substituted into the game for Anderson Julio, who finished the night with one assist.

Eventually, Portland’s tenacity on the attack broke through with an Antony goal. With chaos in a box packed full of players on a Timbers corner kick, the ball pinballed around, falling to Antony who put it away, cutting the RSL lead in half. Real Salt Lake 2, Portland Timbers 1.

Portland slices their deficit in half thanks to a goal from Antony! pic.twitter.com/Ww2urLG2hz

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 22, 2024

At this point in the match, it seemed that both teams determined that they were done with midfield play. The majority of the possession in the second 45′ occurred deep in each half.

In the 72nd minute, Alexandros Katranis was shown a yellow card for a bad foul.

The slugfest between Salt Lake and Portland tilted even in the 76th minute with a freekick goal from Timbers’ Evander, that left America First Field speechless. The right-footed shot smashed the bottom of the crossbar and landed across the goal line, evening the scoreline at 2-2.

11 consecutive games with goal contributions from Evander. 😏

We're tied in Salt Lake! pic.twitter.com/cw1SDHJ8uW

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 22, 2024

Portland, desperate for points, kept the pedal to the metal, but the RSL defense was able to bend and not break.

In the 89th minute, the Portland push left a hold on their back line, giving RSL the chance to counter. A pass from Chicho Arango at the top of the box found Diogo Gonçalves, who nestled the ball into the bottom right corner of the net for Salt Lake’s third goal of the night.

That late in the match, a goal would normally be decisive, but a Portland Timbers team on the playoff bubble would not leave American First Field without at least a point. Just three minutes after RSL took the lead, Miguel Araujo sent an outward swinging cross into the box from the near side of the field. The pass came perfectly off the head of Jonathan Rodríguez, giving Portland the late equalizer.

Diogo Gonçalves scores his first goal with @realsaltlake to give the home side a short lived late lead #RSL | @kslsports pic.twitter.com/wKx5dsuyg5

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) September 22, 2024

Given the circumstances in the Western Conference playoff push, both teams left every drop of sweat and blood on the field. A gassed Portland team spent most of stoppage time warding off the RSL attack, which created many chances late but was ultimately unable to put a winner away.

After nearly 10 minutes of added time, the wild and electrifying match between Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers ended in a 3-3 draw.

Even with the point gained from the draw, Real Salt Lake punched their ticket to the playoffs in the middle of the match thanks to a Houston Dynamo win over Austin FC.

With the Austin loss tonight, @realsaltlake are officially qualified for the 2024 MLS Playoffs #RSL | @kslsports https://t.co/LZ3LFGtn3V

— RSL Show on KSL 🎙️⚡️ (@rslshow) September 22, 2024

How To Watch Anderson Julio And Real Salt Lake

All Major League Soccer games are broadcasted on Apple TV with MLS Season Pass.

All Real Salt Lake English-language radio coverage for the 2024 season and beyond will be carried on various KSL radio signals. KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM) and KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM / 1160 AM) are both stations under the Bonneville International umbrella.

Tanner Tripp is a sports writer for KSL Sports covering all teams across the state of Utah. Follow him on X @tanner_tripp and Instagram @tanner.tripp here.

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