Real Salt Lake 1 vs. 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
August 20, 2022; Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Real Salt Lake (10-8-8, 38 points); Vancouver Whitecaps (9-11-7, 34 points)
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On the tough draw tonight:
āItās a game of moments, not a game of halves. Itās a game of moments and making plays when the game calls for it. Tonight, we did a lot of things offensively that we wanted to do. We werenāt as sharp in front of goal as we needed to be, but we created chances. The game is defined by one defensive play, and that was the enforcing part of it. Thatās the beauty of this game, and for us tonight, it was a gut punch.ā
On shifting to a defensive mindset late in the game:
āLate in games, when you have a lead, teams are more willing to throw numbers forward. At that point, especially in the last 5-10 minutes, thereās nothing to lose. Much like our game against San Jose, weāre throwing numbers forward, youāre going for the goal. One area that weāve been working on, especially the last two weeks, is when you have a lead, how do we regain that momentum? If weāre going long, then weāre going for second balls. We have to find ways as a group to get the ball back and dictate the game with the ball. You canāt be under for that long and not give up good chances. The goal we conceded, they had some chances. The goal we conceded was not a good chanceāprobably the worst chance they had all night. And thatās the disappointing part of it.ā
On getting a barrage of attacks in the second half:
āThe onus is on us as a collective to find ways to flip the momentum. We succumb to that momentum too easily. Weāve got to be alert and ready to pick up second balls so we can dictate the game with the ball and break that spur of momentum, and then you ask them questions. The last couple games, weāre playing with fire in that regard, where weāre just allowing teams to come through us too easily, and obviously theyāre breaking down our wide areas and putting dangerous balls in the box. Thatās our work, and to be fair, we havenāt played with a lead in quite some timeāuntil last weekāand thatās a whole different game. Itās a different type of game when youāre behind it because youāre sending numbers forward, and now the other teamās feeling it. So games like Dallas, even games like LAFC, where weāre creating new chances because the mindsetās different, the game hasnāt changed, the mindset changes. So that will be one area of the game that weāll work on this week.ā
On allowing a goal in the last 15 minutes:
āI donāt think itās like that. We could be allowing that to happen in the middle 15 minutes. itās just about how we deal with momentum, especially when itās against us. One of the ways we can do that is being better with the ball and being a bit braver with the ball. We have to be willing to lose it in difficult spots at times. But when you break that corner or combine around somebody pressing, thatās when you start to get everyone to move. When you are on the field and we are moving the ball around everyone wants to get on the ball. The movement ahead of the ball is fantastic. When itās against you naturally as a human being, you are not going to want to move because you are already thinking you are going to lose it. And so it becomes a self-fulfilling cycle, so that will be one area that we look at going forward.ā
Goalkeeper Zac MacMath
On the goal in the 87th minute:
āIt was a really good cross and Julian [Gressel] made an unbelievable header. Those things happen. It couldāve come in the 5th minute or the 50th minute it just happened to be in the 87th minute. It was unfortunate that one slipped in and now we end up with one point over three.ā
On enduring Vancouverās numerous shots:
āPretty similar to Seattle, where we bunkered in a little bit. Unfortunately, we couldnāt really regain possession on the second balls and that ended up hurting us a bit because when you continue to take wave after wave, it can be difficult. Youāre going to give up chances, half chances, and we dealt with most of them, but in the end, the only thing that matters is that they got one in.ā
On getting results at home:
āWeāve been playing relatively well the past seven or eight games, and this was probably one of our worst games. It wasnāt a matter of tactics, we were a bit sloppy to start the game. It was a bit choppy of a game, a couple of injuries stopped the momentum a few times. We just have to find our way into games and take control, especially here at home where we can get on top of teams, find that second goal, and bury things.ā
On the confidence of the team right now:
āThereās a bit of frustration that weāre not getting results at home, but at the same time, weāve been in the playoff position the whole year. Weāre four points clear of the next team, and we need to continue to play like we are four points above the closest team below us. Weāre a good team, we have good players, we just have to find results and weāre going to find results multiple different ways as the end of the stretch comes up.ā
On the disappointment of this result after earning three points in Seattle:
āAfter the Seattle game I think we had a lot of momentum, and unfortunately we didnāt bring that into this game because we were a little sloppy. The fact that we got the lead and couldāve gone two games in a row like that, it wouldāve been massive not just for the standings, but also for our confidence going forward.ā