Despite missing their captain, Real Salt Lake handed Atlas FC its first loss of the season on Thursday night in a thrilling 2-1 comeback victory at America First Field to throw group West 8 wide open heading into the final matchday.
As expected, RSL dominated possession from the opening whistle as Atlas prioritized their strong defensive structure and quick transitions instead. The possession led to a few early chances for Salt Lake, most notably when Anderson Julio cleverly turned in between two Atlas defenders to put himself in on goal. Still, the chances went begging as did Julio’s with a missed final pass allowing longtime Atlas goalkeeper Camilo Vargas to save Matt Crook’s resulting shot.
Real Salt Lake homegrown goalkeeper Gavin Beavers also came up with a couple of crucial saves throughout the half including an impressive double save late on, but had no chance when Luis Reyes found an open shot with an unidentified run down the left channel. Jeremy Márquez laid the ball into Reyes’ path for the Mexican fullback to first-time past Beavers before he could react to give Atlas the 1-0 lead — a growing trend early in the Roginegros season.
The game was playing out just as Atlas had planned.
Once the visitors had the lead in their pocket, they dropped even deeper into a low mid-block, often in a back-five or -six. Stuffing the midfield with bodies, Roginegros allowed Salt Lake to play on the wings where the home side would send searching crosses into the area.
Julio popped up with the very last touch of the half to hammer home Andrés Gómez’s pinpoint cross following a bit of shake-and-bake with his defender.
Gómez would continue to push in the second half, seeing his close-range shot incredibly saved at the near post by Vargas, but it would be a substitute that made the difference for Salt Lake in jaw-dropping fashion.
Picking up the ball at least 30 yards from goal, Nelson Palacio saw something he liked and decided to take a shot, producing what has to be a goal of the tournament nominee.
“World class” is an often overused descriptor, but not in this case. Palacio was closer to midfield than he was to the goal, yet gave Vargas no chance of stopping his rocket of a shot despite getting a hand on it.
Atlas manager Beñat San José threw everything at getting an equalizer, utilizing all five of his allotted substitutions, but the home side wouldn’t allow a single shot on target in the second half to see out the three points.
As a result, nobody in group West 8 advances nor is eliminated with RSL set to face the Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium on Monday night to decide the group.
