Brayan Vera and Justen Glad each scored in the second half to rally Real Salt Lake to a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in Sandy, Utah, on Saturday night.
Salt Lake (12-11-7, 43 points) beat Vancouver for the second time this season — rallying from a halftime deficit each time. It marked just their second win in their last six MLS regular-season matches.
Brian White opened the scoring with a goal in the 17th minute for the Whitecaps. It wasn’t enough for Vancouver (11-10-8, 41 points) to withstand RSL’s relentless second-half attack, however.
Salt Lake sits in fifth place in the Western Conference with four matches remaining. They are tied with Houston in points and trail Los Angeles FC and Seattle by two points. Vancouver is two points back of RSL.
With the game scoreless, Ryan Gauld sent a cross into White off a corner kick and he headed home the ball from the center of the box to put Vancouver in front 1-0.
Salt Lake created many more scoring chances before halftime. RSL had an 8-3 advantage on total shots and put four balls on frame. But the Utah club had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.
That all changed in the 47th minute. Vera blasted home a long free kick from outside the penalty area. He caught Yohei Takaoka out of position between the pipes and hooked the ball inside the near post for the equalizer.
Glad tacked on the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute. Andres Gomez served up a cross to him inside the 6-yard box. He stepped in front of a defender and headed the ball across the line. Glad came away with a bloody nose on the play.
Zac MacMath denied White a brace and an equalizer in the 82nd minute. White headed a cross from Gauld toward the left post. MacMath swatted the ball off the post and stopped it from crossing the line.
–Field Level Media
