Bill Riley: A 'hat trick' of thoughts on Real Salt Lake's loss to LAFC


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SALT LAKE CITY — Real Salt Lake's inability to find positive results on the road continued Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the expansion side LAFC. For a second time this season, RSL was beaten by Bob Bradley's club 2-0.

LA got a pair of first-half goals by newly acquired Christian Ramirez in the 13th and 30th minutes, and made that line stand up. RSL is now just 1-9-2 away from Rio Tinto Stadium on the season. Only Minnesota United has a worse road record in Major League Soccer this season.

Here are my "hat trick" of thoughts on Real Salt Lake and LAFC

New formation, same road result

Coach Mike Petke rolled out a new look Wednesday night, perhaps hoping to change his team's road luck. Petke played what amounted to a 3-5-2 with three centerbacks in the match at the start (Justen Glad, Nick Besler and Shawn Barry). It was the first time in a long time that RSL didn't go with it's 4-3-3 alignment.

The new look appeared to have Real Salt Lake out of sync through the first 55 or so minutes of the match. It wasn't until Joao Plata came on as a sub in the 56th minute that the Real Salt Lake attack appeared to get some bite. Without Damir Kreilach, Jefferson Savarino and Plata in the starting lineup, and a new formation, the RSL attack lacked the right combination and chemistry.

It will be interesting to see which direction Petke goes with in his lineup Saturday night in Houston.

No Rimando, no problem

RSL Keeper Nick Rimando injured his left hamstring in the first half of Wednesday night's match, which meant he was unavilable to play in the second half. That left goalkeeping duties to a rookie out of Chicago, Andrew Putna. Making his first appearance in a Major League Soccer match against one of the best offensive attacks in Major League Soccer, Putna was outstanding in relief of Rimando.

Putna denied Carlos Vela and LAFC attack on numerous occasions, coming up with four big saves to keep the scoreline the same in the second 45 minutes of the match. It was quite the debut for a guy that began the season as a third goalkeeper for RSL.

In the playoffs for now

The Major League soccer playoffs begin in just over two months, but if they began today, Real Salt Lake would be in — but barely. They're currently sitting in the sixth and final playoff spot in the West, with just a two-point lead over seventh place Vancouver. Just nine points separate first place from seventh place in the West right now.

The good news for RSL is that they've done enough to this point to be a playoff team, but the bad news is that with two months left in the season if they don't figure out a way to gather some road points, they might not be a playoff team when it counts.

Up next for Real Salt Lake is a trip to Houston Saturday night. You can hear that match on ESPN 700 starting at 6 p.m.

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