After conceding that his team had a "one in a million" chance to make the Audi 2018 MLS Cup playoffs, Real Salt Lake head coach Mike Petke believes the opportunity is well deserved.
With RSL the only MLS club stuck with sitting out Decision Day presented by AT&T, the LA Galaxy just needed a home win over already-eliminated Houston Dynamo. The Galaxy took a 2-0 lead into halftime, but squandered it and lost 3-2, allowing RSL to retain their place above the playoff line.
“Fate intervened,” Petke said on Sirius XM show Counter Attack on Sunday. "I think my players deserve to be in the playoffs so we are ecstatic.”
All week, Petke and the team have trained with the plan to play in the Knockout Round and prepared accordingly. Now, after appearing to be at a disadvantage by not having a game on Decision Day, they are the only team that will play midweek on full rest.
They travel to Los Angeles to face LAFC on Thursday (10:30 pm ET; ESPN2, UniMás in US | TSN, TVAS in Canada).
