RSL holds off Galaxy to advance to U.S. Open Cup semis

U.S. NEWS



SANDY, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – Damir Kreilach notched his second brace of the U.S. Open Cup, as Real Salt Lake advanced to the semifinals for the second time ever with a 3-2 victory over the L.A. Galaxy Wednesday night.

RSL will take on the Houston Dynamo in the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals in August. FC Cincinnati will play Inter Miami in the other semifinal. The dates and sites will be determined on Thursday.

Kreilach opened the scoring in the 19th minute, tapping in a beautiful cross from Rubio Rubin to give Real an early 1-0 lead.

Just before the end of the half, Rubin got taken down in the box on a corner kick, setting up Kreilach on the penalty kick for his second goal of the game. Kreilach also scored twice against Las Vegas in the opening round of the tournament.

In the 51st minute, Rubin recorded his second assist, feeding Jefferson Savarino on a fast break attack to give RSL a seemingly insurmountable 3-0 lead.

But the Galaxy rallied to score twice in three minutes to make it scary for the home squad. Gaston Brugman buried a PK after a foul by RSL defender Marcelo Silva to get the Galaxy on the board.

Douglas Costa followed with a laser strike from just outside the box into the far corner of the net in the 84th minute to cut the deficit to one goal.

But the RSL defense held through seven agonizing minutes of stoppage time to hold on for the victory.

RSL exacts a little revenge for a home loss to L.A. a week before by the same 3-2 score.

With the win, Real Salt Lake is slated to face Houston Dynamo the week of August 25 in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinals for a chance to compete for the team’s first trophy since 2013 and its first CONCACAF Champions League berth since 2016.

Real Salt Lake will return to MLS action this Saturday against NYCFC at 7:30 p.m.



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