Marco Reus scored on a late penalty kick for his second goal of the match as the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated visiting Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Sunday at Carson, Calif.
JT Marcinkowski made nine saves, including two in extra time to atone for an earlier mishap, for the Galaxy (3-4-3, 12 points), who won for the first time in three league matches.
Rafael was credited with four saves for Real Salt Lake (5-3-1, 16 points).
The goals for Reus were his third and fourth of the season.
His first goal came nine minutes into the game off a free kick.
Real Salt Lake tied the game in first-half extra time when Marcinkowski’s misfortune resulted in an own goal. Zavier Gozo blasted a shot from the right side that struck the post as Marcinkowski lunged to make the stop. The ball bounced off the post and then off Marcinkowski’s back and into the goal.
The tiebreaking goal was set up when Elijah Wynder drew a foul in the penalty area on Real Salt Lake’s Samuel Junqua. Reus converted in the 85th minute.
Marcinkowski’s bad luck aside, it was a strong defensive effort from the Galaxy after they had allowed two goals in each of their previous two matches.
The Galaxy finished with a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. They had slightly more shots (16-15) but Real Salt Lake had more shots on target (9-7) as well as a higher%age of possession time (54.6%).
Real Salt Lake scored a total of seven goals in a two-match span earlier this month and now has been handled twice in a row following Wednesday’s 2-0 setback to Inter Miami.
The match featured Galaxy midfielder Lucas Sanabria opposing his brother, will be facing his brother, Uruguay international Juan Manuel Sanabria, who was acquired by RSL this offseason.
–Field Level Media
