Real Salt Lake 3 vs. 0 Sporting Kansas City
July 17, 2022; Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT
Real Salt Lake (9-6-6, 33 points); Sporting Kansas City (5-12-5, 20 pts)
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni
On feelings of pride towards the team:
“I just spoke to the guys, and in the last couple games, the one thing that we didn’t lack was belief, that mentality. The results didn't go our way against Colorado. We gave up two soft ones, but fought our way back against Atlanta. When you eliminate those mistakes, it inspires you, it’s a contagion to the positive. The guys today may have played their most complete performance of the season, which is not easy to do after the last four results that haven’t gone our way. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys to really believe, dig in, and put forth a great performance.”
On Justen Glad’s importance:
“He’s huge. I’ve said this numerous times–he’s having one of those seasons that transcends you from a good player to a great player. On both sides of the ball, he’s really raised his level and his athletic ability goes without saying. He provides such great cover and he’s critical to the success of the group and he’s waited and worked extremely hard for this moment in his career and he’s living it.”
On the chemistry and trust in the group:
“The structures are really important after the attack, and then the next part of that structure is the little movements you make to be able to receive the ball depending on where it’s creating good angles for your teammates. Sava [Jefferson Savarino], [Justin] Meram, [Maikel] Chang received the ball in some really tight pockets and from there, we were able to really get after their outside backs and exploit them a bit. One of the things we’ve been talking about a lot is playing forward, and in order to play forward, you have to have players in good spots, but then also adjusting as the ball moves, and we were able to do that tonight.”
Midfielder Pablo Ruiz
On tonight’s performance:
“I’m feeling very good and I’m just happy about being in this moment. I haven’t played my best in these last two games and I knew I had to play better today. I’m just so happy we got the win.”
On his chemistry with Jasper Loffelsend in the midfield:
“We have been working very well together. Jasper is an incredible player and I’m very happy that he’s doing so well. “
On the relief of scoring tonight:
“In our last game, I had some shots but I couldn’t score, so finding a goal tonight makes me very happy.”
On nearly scoring two free kicks in last two games:
“I’ve been practicing with them during training and they’ve been looking very good. I couldn’t find a goal on any of my shots today, so I’m going to continue to practice.”
Defender Justen Glad
On why he’s playing so well:
“At this point, I’m 25. I’ve been around. I know what I need to work on. I know what I have worked on. I’m confident in my abilities. I’m feeling confident out there and that’s really what it comes down to out there is just confidence.”
On tonight’s game:
“We all knew, we were all on the same page and knew what we had to do. Obviously, it’s been a tough month for us, but coming back home and when we haven’t gotten a result in a while, we dropped points at home. Everyone in our locker room knew what we had to do. We knew we were going to have to bring that energy, and that’s what we did.”
On his preparation this season:
“Just mentally. I go into games thinking about that. Thinking about trying to be a leader out there and making sure that other players can look to me. I hope that if I’m playing well, I can spark someone else to play well. I just go into every game with that on my mind, trying to be a leader and trying to be the best I can be.”
