OK, it was a beautiful day for footy at Rio Tinto, warm but not hot, a little overcast but not too bad, it was a bit windy for the first half of the match. I am going to start by giving credit to the Union, they came in and went at RSL, there was no bunker mentality, there was no awe of the champions, just good solid attacking play. I think that caught RSL a bit flat footed in the first half but Kyle Beckerman was at the right place at the right time and the ball fell to him and he put it past Seitz for a 27th minute goal and RSL would hold onto that lead until halftime.
A early injury to Robbie Findley (not sure of the long term seriousness) meant RSL would have to bring in Pablo Campos in the 38th minutes and while he didn't do much in the first half he would become a force to be dealt with in the second half. It was a Javier Morales free kick that bounced around the area before it was put underneath a diving Chris Seitz by Olave and RSL was up 2-0 in the 51st minute. RSL would strike again in the 70th minute on what may be the best team goal of the year as Saborio played a great ball to Campos who lifted it back into the area and found Alvaro's head and there was nothing Philly could do as RSL would move ahead 3-0.
That is how the match would end as about 12-14,000 fans showed up despite the early start time, the Olave goal was the 200th regular season goal scored by Real Salt Lake, and each of the goals was the second of the year for each of the scorers (Beckerman, Olave, Saborio).
I am working on press conference video, pictures and then will do a full match recap on Sunday.
OFF MY SOAPBOX