Sergi Solans and Zach Booth each scored goals in the opening 13 minutes as Real Salt Lake grabbed a MLS Cup playoff spot on the last day of the regular season with a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday at Sandy, Utah.
Real Salt Lake (13-15-6, 45 points) entered the day just below the playoff line and needed a win or a draw in the regular-season finale while getting help from elsewhere in the league. That arrived when FC Dallas rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
RSL ended their season on a 4-1-1 stretch in order to overcome a 13-game winless run from mid-August through Oct. 10 and reach the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season, as well as a fifth consecutive under head coach Pablo Mastroeni.
Needing a win to secure their own playoff spot, the Galaxy (11-12-11, 44 points) were denied as they dropped from seventh in the Western Conference to completely out of the postseason picture. The top nine teams in the standings advanced.
After scoring a season-high four goals last weekend in a victory over Austin FC, Los Angeles’ only score in the regular-season finale came on a first-half own goal from RSL defender Luc de Fougerolles.
RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral had to make just one save, while Galaxy goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski made six saves.
RSL needed just 10 minutes to get on the scoreboard when Solans broke free on a pass from midfield by Noel Caliskan and pulled Marcinkowski off his line before scoring into a wide-open goal with his right foot.
Three minutes later, Booth gave RSL a 2-0 lead when he scored from inside the box on a toe poke through the legs of the Galaxy’s Marco Reus and past a diving Marcinkowski.
The Galaxy pulled a goal back with the help of RSL when de Fougerolles redirected a cross from LA’s Chucky Lozano and into the goal in the 40th minute.
After winning MLS Cup in 2024, the Galaxy have failed to reach the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
–Field Level Media
