Diego Luna Brings Real Salt Lake Even With Vancouver

SANDY, UTAH- Having given up a goal quickly following the second-half kick, Real Salt Lake spent the better part of thirty minutes fighting tooth and nail against a determined Vancouver defense to find an equalizer.

The Vancouver Whitecaps needing the three points to avoid the wild card round in the playoffs were desperately defending their net, however, substitution Dominik Marczuk proved to be pivotal in bringing RSL even.

Marczuk was causing fits for a tired Vancouver midfield. Minutes before the goal, Dominik had the edge on a Whitecaps defender Sam Adekugbe, but while passing him on his right, Adekugbe threw up his arm, elbowing Marczuk in the face.

The Whitecaps regained possession, but an important defensive deflection from Marczuk found Braian Ojeda who sent a cross-filed pass to Diego Luna who created space and fired a shot from just inside the box into the bottom right corner of the net, drawing the match at 1-1.

Oh my Diego Luna ????

Beautiful touch and a strong finish for the @realsaltlake equalizer. pic.twitter.com/OJD8RfTzqF

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 20, 2024

Whitecaps Come Into America First Field

Vancouver holds the eighth spot in the West with a record of 13-12-8 ahead of Decision Day. They are one point ahead of Portland in ninth and two points behind Minnesota in seventh.

Their only chance to escape the Wild Card is with a win at AFF on Saturday. On top of that, they would need Minnesota to lose or draw with a scoreline that would give them the tiebreaker advantage.

Real and Vancouver played once back in March. RSL defeated the Caps in BC Place, 2-1.

Ready to face off against this foe #RSLvVAN | @EnglandLogistic pic.twitter.com/I4xJjkVVlp

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) October 18, 2024

Of all the teams in the West playoffs, Vancouver has the second-worst goal differential. Both Real and the Caps have allowed 47 goals this season but RSL has scored 12 more goals.

The Wild Card matches will run on Tuesday, October 22, and Wednesday, October 23. Round One begins on Friday, October 25.

The MLS Cup is slated to start on Saturday, December 7.