Katranis scores late, rallies Real Salt Lake to victory over Union
Published
CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Rookie defender Alexandros Katranis scored in the 89th minute and Real Salt Lake rallied to beat the Philadelphia Union 2-1 on Saturday night.
Real Salt Lake (5-2-3) knocked off the league's last unbeaten club, handing Philadelphia (3-1-4) its second loss in the last 40 league matches at home under manager Jim Curtin. The Union had outscored their opponents 88-23 in the previous 39 home contests.
Real Salt Lake took a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute when second-year midfielder Andrés Gómez used an assist from Cristian “Chicho” Arango to score for a second straight match and for the fourth time this season. Arango notched his seventh assist after entering play in a three-way tie for the league lead with Inter Miami's Lionel Messi and Dante Vanzeir of the New York Red Bulls.
Philadelphia evened the score early in the second half on a goal by Dániel Gazdag in the 50th minute. Quinn Sullivan earned an assist on Gazdag's left-footed shot from close range. It was the fifth goal of the season for Gazdag with four scores coming in the last five matches.
Katranis used Maikel Chang's first assist of the season to score the second goal of his first season. Katranis has made six starts and seven appearances this season.
Zac MacMath saved five shots in goal for Real Salt Lake. Andre Blake turned away two shots for the Union.
Manager Pablo Mastroeni's Real Salt Lake squad is unbeaten in its last five matches and improves to 3-0-2 on the road since a season-opening loss to Inter Miami.
Real Salt Lake suffered its only loss in a series it leads 6-1-6 in its last trip to Pennsylvania, a 4-1 defeat in 2018. The club has allowed nine goals in its nine matches this season, one more than the league-leading Houston Dynamo.
Philadelphia is back in action at home on Tuesday when the Union host the Seattle Sounders in a match that was abandoned in the 6th minute earlier this season because of torrential rain.
Real Salt Lake heads home to play Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
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