Kamara has two goals in tie on road
A roller-coaster 2017 season for Crew SC finally leveled off on Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
Ola Kamara scored twice, once in each half, and Crew SC finished in a 2-2 tie with Real Salt Lake, earning its first draw since opening day.
It was a wacky, back-andforth game in the heat, at elevation and in the Crew’s third game in eight days.
“We’re running on fumes right now,” coach Gregg Berhalter said. “We put a
number of guys in the game, we’re at altitude and it’s 90 degrees out. I can’t ask anything more from these guys. Certainly proud of the effort, proud of the point.”
Real Salt Lake (7-124) went from trailing 1-0 to holding the lead in the opening nine minutes of the second half.
Joao Plata converted a penalty kick to tie the score at in the 50th minute after Josh Williams was called for a handball in the box. Three minutes later, Luis Silva connected with Jefferson Savarino on a counter to give Salt Lake a 2-1 lead.
But Kamara was there in the 60th minute to save a point for Crew SC (10-11-2), collecting a rebound off a miss by Ethan Finlay and slamming home his second goal of the game and 11th of the season to draw the Crew back to 2-2.
Kamara had a good look at No. 3 on a breakaway in the 72nd minute but missed wide left. Five minutes later, Real’s Albert Rusnak rang the left post on a clear chance.
Somehow, both teams managed to avoid allowing the winner.
In his first career Major League Soccer start and his first game for Crew SC since March 11, rookie right back Connor Maloney played a key role in the opening goal.
He hustled near the byline in the 15th minute to set up Kamara.
“Whatever nerves (Maloney) may have had, you didn’t see it at all,” Berhalter said. “He has been waiting for a chance, he finally got one, and we’re proud of him.”
Despite the early score, Crew SC spent
much of the first half on its heels.
Goalkeeper Zack Steffen made an impressive vertical leap in the 27th minute, making a one-handed save on a shot by Savarino. Steffen finished with three saves.
Crew SC travels to San Jose next Saturday to close out a threegame trip.
Until then, it will have a few days to catch its breath after a compact stretch of three games.
“You add the weather, you add the travel and it was a difficult week. MLS presents (teams) with a lot of weeks like that,” Berhalter said.
“We’ll be happy to get home, happy to relax a little.”