Coming off strong showing, Revolution fall flat vs. Real Salt Lake

The revolution followed theirs best offensive show of the season — a 5-0 deconstruction of FC Montreal on Aug. 24 — with a tepid 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, on Saturday.

Real Salt Lake (13-6-8, 47 points), which entered third in the Western Conference, scored a pair of goals on either side of halftime and New England (8-15-2, 26 points) was held scoreless. offensive chances, few shots, 20-8, and behind, 10-2, in shots on goal.

Entering the game just 2 points short of the playoff line, the Revolution did little to prove they will be dancing this postseason after Braian Ojeda sent a long pass up to Anderson Julio in first-half stoppage time. Revolution goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic made a poor decision to come out of the net and Julio slipped around him before ripping a left-footed goal from the edge of the penalty area.

In the 56th minute, a free-kick was deflected several times in the box before landing at Philip Quinton’s feet and the 24-year-old centre-back flicked in another left-footed goal.

One of the Revolution’s rare chances came in the 66th minute when Carles Gil sent a corner to Xavier Arreaga, whose header clattered off the crossbar. Three minutes later, Giacomo Vrioni missed a header to the left. Vrioni hit the left post on a breakaway in the 90th minute, although it appeared he may have been offside.

It was the first matchup between the teams since 2022, and the Revolution haven’t defeated Real Salt Lake since 2007.