SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013) – Chivas USA fell to Real Salt Lake, 2-1, in their road finale Wednesday evening at Rio Tinto Stadium. RSL were led by an Alvaro Saborio penalty kick and Joao Plata’s score early in the second half. The Red-and-white answered back with a goal from Julio Morales but were stopped short in their comeback effort.

The Rojiblancos began generating threats to open the scoreboard five minutes into the match when Carlos Borja sent a long ball over the top from the right sideline to Eric Avila. The midfielder then worked the ball into the right side of the box, and looked to set up forward Erick Torres with a short cross but the RSL defense did not allow the striker to get off a clean shot.

Chivas again had a dangerous look in the 16th minute on a near identical sequence initiated by a Borja pass over the top. This time Avila sent his cross from outside the box to a cutting Torres who got on the end of the entry with a header near the penalty spot. However, RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando managed to bat the attempt away from his line. Carlos Alvarez then tried to follow up the deflection with a shot of his own but sent his strike wide of the left post.

Making his first start of the season for the injured Dan Kennedy, goalkeeper Tim Melia turned away a pair of threats by the home side on set pieces.

The Goats then looked to continue getting the ball to their attackers and did so in the 33rd minute when Torres played a ball back to Avila who squared up to goal and unleashed a strike from outside the box that sailed over the crossbar.

RSL took a two-goal advantage in a span of three minutes beginning in the 49th minute. Borja was whistled for a hand ball after a chip pass attempt deflected off his arm inside the box to give the Claret-and-Cobalt a penalty chance. Saborio lined up and his shot ended inside the right post to break the scoreless match. RSL then doubled their lead when Plata gathered a deflected ball and fired his shot from the top of the arc past Melia’s right.

Looking to spark a comeback, the Red-and-White went to their bench and pulled one back in the 77th minute when a pair of subs were able to link up for a score. Midfielder Carlo Chueca found Morales alone with a ball over the top after the forward slipped behind RSL’s back line and delivered a left-footed shot past Rimando to cut the deficit in half to 2-1.

Matthew Fondy, the third member of the Goats’ subs looked to get into the act and equalize as he got off a shot from the arc that deflected and skipped just outside the post and out of play.

The Rojiblancos continued to press forward to try and pepper the opposing goal in the final minutes of the game, but could not tally the equalizer as the home side held on to secure the 2-1 result.

Chivas USA now return home and will have a short turnaround before facing conference foe the Portland Timbers in their season finale. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at the StubHub Center, and will be televised in English on KDOC-TV and in Spanish on MundoFox 22. The game can also be followed in Spanish on W Radio 690 AM. For more information visitcdchivasusa.com and follow us on Twitter @cdchivasusa and Facebook.com/chivasusa.

Chivas USA 1-2 Real Salt Lake

Scoring Summary
RSL – Alvaro Saborio 12 PK – 49’
RSL – Joao Plata 4 – 52’
CHV – Julio Morales 2 (Carlo Chueca 1) – 77’

Misconduct Summary:
RSL – Chris Schuler (yellow) 13’
RSL – Nat Borchers (yellow) 31’
CHV – Erick Torres (yellow) 45+1’
CHV – Oswaldo Minda (yellow) 47’

Lineups
Chivas USA
Tim Melia, Carlos Borja, Mario de Luna, Carlos Bocanegra, Jaime Frias, Edgar Mejia, Oswaldo Minda (Matthew Fondy 76’), Carlos Alvarez (Carlo Chueca 58’), Eric Avila, Erick Torres, Bryan de la Fuente (Julio Morales 76’)

HC – Jose Luis Real

Subs not used: Pat McLain, Josue Soto, Marvin Iraheta, Jorge Villafaña

Real Salt Lake
Nick Rimando, Lovel Palmer (Tony Beltran 9’), Nat Borchers, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Yordany Alvarez (Javier Morales 45’), Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman, Luis Gil, Joao Plata (Robbie Findley 62’), Alvaro Saborio

HC – Jason Kreis

Subs not used: Jeff Attinella, Cole Grossman, Sebastian Velasquez, Olmes Garcia