Kreilach and company stun LAFC 3-2 en route to conference semifinals

Wow. What a performance. Coming into this matchup I’ll be honest, I was far from confident RSL would pull out a victory. I was optimistic, but also trying to be realistic. If you read my preview article, I mentioned that LAFC had been dominant this season, especially against RSL. But, much to my surprise, coach Mike Petke made some significant changes in the lineup which really made an impact in their play.

There was no shortage of effort given in this game, from either side. This was evident when the scoring opened up in the 21st minute coming off a beautiful Brooks Lennon cross from the corner that was played in perfectly to Damir Kreilach in the middle of the box. All Kreilach needed was one touch off his chest and a sweep of the leg to send the ball past keeper Tyler Miller and into the bottom left corner of the net. Ironically enough, this gave RSL their first lead against LAFC since minute 21 of their first matchup in the regular season.

But, just ten minutes later, Danilo Silva was able to take a Carlos Vela corner kick and put one past Nick Rimando to even the score at one a piece. Just after the play, LAFC fans started throwing beer cups onto the field, almost hitting Rimando and another RSL player. This resulted in a five-minute stoppage in time which both teams were asked to exit the field. Not much happened the rest of the half as momentum from both teams was tempered by such a strange event.

The second half is when the drama was taken to another level. Coming soon after halftime in the 55th minute, LAFC scored their second goal off a Christian Ramirez strike from just inside the 18 that froze keeper Rimando. This was just the second touch Ramirez had taken in the game as he had just made his way into the side ten minutes prior. Just when the momentum started shifting towards LAFC’s favor, something magical happened. A ricochet after an Albert Rusnak strike flew right in front of Damir Kreilach and before it could hit the ground, Kreilach timed a miraculous scissor-kick onto the ball that sent it perfectly into the top right-hand corner of the net to tie things up in the 59th minute.

Check out the video to see one of the most fantastic goals of the season.

Damir Kreilach ARE YOU KIDDING US?! #LAFCvRSL // @Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs https://t.co/OTWcWEaCth

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 2, 2018

From this point on, you could start to sense RSL’s confidence was overflowing and LAFC was starting to look slightly rattled. Just ten minutes after the amazing goal from Kreilach, Jefferson Savarino was able to work his way into the box and get enough of the ball for it to bounce off a defender and into the back of the net. It went in the books as a Walker Zimmerman own goal, but a goal nonetheless, to make it 3-2 Real Salt Lake. At that point they had now tripled the amount of goals they scored against L.A. in the previous two matchups combined.

After the third goal, the tactics for Petke’s team switched from how do we win this to how do we not lose this. To shore up the defense a little bit in hopes of closing out the game, Petke sent on Sunny In the 80th minute for Sava, hoping to also inject a little energy in the squad. A corner attempt for LAFC saw Petke switch Rusnak out for Justen Glad. The tension was at an all-time high. LAFC was desperately doing anything they could to get shots on goal, but RSL was poised, they weren’t rattled. A rather long seven minutes of stoppage time turned into ten and after LAFC had exhausted their last efforts, history was made. RSL not only earned their first victory against LAFC, but also got their first playoff victory away from home since their 2013 run to the MLS cup.

An amazing team effort is what got RSL the victory, but a very impressive showing from Damir Kreilach who finished with two goals and an assist is what really set them apart on Thursday night. New starters like Luke Mulholland, Nedum Onuoha, and Corey Baird all played incredible games and stepped up to meet the challenge of such a big moment. Doing all the little things right and executing a great game-plan is something that this team had been missing for good parts of the season, but against LAFC, they were excellent.

RSL looks to push for another cup run starting with the home leg of the conference semifinals this Sunday against Sporting K.C. at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 and will be broadcast on FS1 and ESPN 700 radio.