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8Nov/130

MLS Playoffs: Real Salt Lake Advances to Western Finals with Gutsy Win

Real Salt Lake came into the home leg of their Western Conference semifinals matchup against the Los Angeles Galaxy needing to overcome a deficit.  In the first leg, the Galaxy had notched a 1-0 victory at home in LA thanks to an absolutely brilliant long strike from defender Sean Franklin. That goal threatened to oust RSL from the playoffs, if they couldn't come up big on Thursday night. To say that RSL did indeed come up big in their 2-0 win over the Galaxy would be a massive understatement. In what was possibly the most inspired and gutsiest performance RSL has had since winning the 2009 MLS Cup on penalty kicks against the Galaxy, Jason Kreis' team dug deep in a tension-filled game that sent RSL on to the Western Conference Finals against Portland. In the first half, RSL was very much in control and had several near misses. In the 35th minute, Sebastian Velasquez finally put the team on the board by heading home a cross from Chris Wingert. Velasquez's goal tied up the aggregate for the series at 1-1.  RSL continued to push in the second half, but a Chris Schuler header hit the crossbar in the 74th minute while an Alvaro Saborio ...
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