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SANDY — A pair of teams on opposite ends of the playoff picture battled for more than 90 minutes to a 3-3 draw Saturday night at America First Field.
Real Salt Lake clinched a playoff berth for the fourth year in a row no matter the outcome in Sandy after Austin lost to Houston earlier in the evening. But a win never hurts, and the home team seemed well on its way to one after a 2-0 start through 22 minutes.
Newcomer Dominik Marczuk got his first MLS goal in the 10th minute, and Diego Luna got back on the score sheet with a goal 12 minutes later for a comfortable halftime lead.
Portland broke through in the second 45 minutes, however, with goals by Antony and Evander in the 62nd and 76th minutes.
A 90th-minute goal by Diogo Goncalves for his first score in an RSL jersey appeared to win the game, but Portland fired back, once again, two minutes later with another equalizer by Jonathan Rodriguez to end the night in a 3-3 stalemate.
DIOGO IN THE 90TH MINUTE! pic.twitter.com/o4C3lMmH7O
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 22, 2024
"I don't think they had many chances. There were two set-piece goals, right?" Luna said of the Portland comeback. "Three in the past four games, right? And that's just unacceptable. If we're locked in in those situations, I just don't think that that's something we should be allowing.
"We shouldn't just be saying, 'Oh, we'll get it next time.' It's just not acceptable," he added. "I think that's something we need to work on and be locked in 90 minutes, and moments like that just can't happen."
The two teams split the points from the match and maintained their spots in the standings after the draw, with RSL in second in the West and Portland in eighth.
The Claret and Cobalt head back to the Lone Star next for a match against Austin FC on Sept. 28.
