Wasatch Soccer Sentinel
Real Salt Lake found footing on the road, winning 3-2 in a match that saw a dominant RSL in the first half and a much weaker one in the second.
Here are three things I learned from this match.
Guilavogui
I think we learned two things about Morgan Guilavogui this match — or at least had them confirmed. First, he is not a natural goalscorer. He had several great chances, but he’s not an instinctive finisher, and he never really looked like scoring. Second, he has great vision in the attack and can unlock players with his passing from deep. I think we need to really think about Guilavogui as a player that helps build attacks, not finish them. His 23rd minute pass to Sergi Solans was perfectly weighted, and it came from inside his own half. He shrugged off a tackle with ease.
Guilavogui could be a great player for RSL, but I hope we find ways to play to the strengths we’ve already seen — that’s not the first time he’s unlocked a defense in transition.
(A tangent here: I really don’t love Pablo Mastroeni spending his time griping at the fourth official for a tug on Guilavogui after the Solans goal. Celebrate the goal. It’s a young player scoring his first professional goal. I’m ready for RSL to move on from the frequently complaining club it’s been under Mastroeni’s tenure; players react to these things, even if it’s not conscious.)
Hezarkhani
My word. This kid. If Guilavogui isn’t a natural finisher, Aiden Hezarkhani is a bit the opposite. He’s now scored two extremely well-taken goals in back-to-back matches. This time around, he picks up a nice flick from Solans, controls really neatly in Atlanta’s box, then fires home an incredible shot to the near post. I mean, good grief — he’s 18.
He was poor defensively, and he gave the ball away frequently. But his finishing for his last two goals has been immaculate, and you just need those players in your attack sometimes — you just have to be diligent in a counterpress, smart with your positioning, and focused on winning the ball back.
Moisa’s 45 minutes
I wanted to call attention to one key moment from the first half that didn’t result in a goal. Morgan Guilavogui fizzed the ball just wide from outside the box — but it was the pass in that really made me stop and take notice. Luca Moisa arrived late to the midfield, avoiding any real marking, and just casually picked up the ball at the top of the attacking third. The remarkable thing is that he very clearly wanted the ball there — he made the run, he saw Hezarkhani on the ball, and stepped into a position where he had full view of the attacking third. His pass in to Guilavogui isn’t to his feet, it’s played into a clear running path, and the Guinean striker has a great look at the goal. It’s a little thing, but it’s a mature thing: Too often, we’ve seen RSL players either hang back or push too far forward, and rarely have they looked to connect play.
Moisa wasn’t perfect, of course. He gave the ball away cheaply in RSL’s defensive third on at least one occasion, and I don’t think he tracked the runner particularly well for Atlanta’s first. He has things to learn. He should! He’s young. (Another tangent: I think we got more evidence that Zavier Gozo just isn’t a right back in any defensive sense — his defense on that cross was very poor.) His booking was probably justified, and I think that led to him being yanked at the half. Or maybe there was an injury — who knows.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when Griffin Dillon came on that RSL struggled a bit more in the midfield. Moisa’s positional instincts are notable at this young age, and while Dillon did well enough, the shape just felt a bit off. Outlets were harder to come by in the attacking phase, and RSL struggled to create good opportunities.
