Real Salt Lake (6-6-1, 19 points) toppled the defending MLS Cup Champions Atlanta United for its third consecutive win courtesy of a stoppage-time stunner from FW Jefferson Savarino.
RSL saw a first-half strike from FW Sebastian Saucedo, scoring in his second consecutive match, coupled with a strong defensive efforthighlighted by two saves by GK Nick Rimando to pick up its sixth win of the 2019 season.
Throughout the first half, RSL played the aggressor and nearly found the opening goal when Savarino’s deflected shot in the 20th minute nearly found the net but glanced off the post. RSL found its breakthrough in the 36th minute when Saucedo fired a curling effort from distance that found the bottom corner of Brad Guzan’s net for his second goal in as many weeks.
After several second-half opportunities Atlanta United broke through RSL’s defense for the equalizer with a sliding effort from Josef Martinez to find the back of the net for the Five Stripes, leveling the score in the 78th minute. With the clock dwindling down, RSL once again played the aggressor, pestering United’s defense and goalkeeper with shot after shot. Finally, in the closing seconds of the game Savarino found the ball from the feet of MF Everton Luiz. Savarino then raced toe to toe with several Atlanta defenders before pulling back and launching the ball from deep outside the 18-yard-box into the upper left corner of goal for the win.
UP NEXT: Real Salt Lake returns to the road on Wednesday, May 29 when it faces the Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo. Kickoff in Montreal is set for 5:30p MT.