Regardless of how disappointing Real Salt Lake’s playoff draw with Western Conference rival Sporting Kansas City was late Sunday night at Rio Tinto Stadium — the final count: RSL 1, Sporting 1 — there were reasons the game was worth watching, two in particular.
For a young RSL outfit, other players might have been more impactful on this occasion, but none has had a bigger impact for RSL. Especially interesting here was the fact that SKC has struggled of late against the two vets. Over the previous 12 RSL-SKC games, Sporting was a mere 1-6-5, including six consecutive league games at Rio Tinto without a victory.