SANDY, Utah – Coming off three straight home draws in MLS play, Real Salt Lake host San Jose on Friday night (11 pm ET; UniMás in the US, MLS LIVE in Canada) with the confidence that they have things figured out.
“It's not about them. It's about what we do at home,” RSL head coach Jeff Cassar said. “If we take care of our business it should be a good night for us.”
At home, Salt Lake hasn't been scoring in accordance with the chances they have been creating. Balls haven't found the back of the net and in a lot of cases weren't on frame.
Forwards Yura Movsisyan and Juan Manuel "Burrito" Martinez are the only two who have scored in MLS games this month, each scoring once. Next week will mark two months and nine games since fellow forward Joao Plata has scored in MLS action. Plata started the season on a tear scoring or assisting in six straight games. After a strong start returning from an injury, he has not registered a goal or an assist in his last six appearances.
“He's struggling with getting the goals and the assists, but his play has been fantastic,” Cassar said.
Plata and the RSL attack were still finding open space and getting good looks at goal. They were missing the final piece to the puzzle and still have yet to put it back together completely.
“We've gone a few games without scoring, but in each of those games you can find some clear cut chances that we just didn't really put away,” said RSL's Jordan Allen said. “Really, just more focus on our finishing and we'll be fine.”
Putting goals on the board is always important and with the crowded Western Conference playoff race it’s even more important to grab points at home. The four teams in the West who are unbeaten at home also happen to be in the top four spots at the moment. San Jose sit in eighth place, four points out of the playoffs, but just five points away from fourth-place RSL.
“Anytime you play a Western Conference team it's always going to be a battle,” Allen said. “They're trying to get a playoff spot and we're looking to turn around our home form, so it's going to be tough.”
As you might expect, Salt Lake has one focus to make the game turn in their favor – finish their chances and hopefully do it early on.
