At the Whistle: Real Salt Lake 3, Austin FC 1

With a chance to clinch a playoff place, and with a clearly rotated lineup, Austin FC lost 3-1 to Real Salt Lake on Saturday night at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, with Braian Ojeda and DeAndre Yedlin getting goals close to either side of the halftime mark, and Victor Olatunji notching a late goal, to outpace a lackluster and rotated Verde side.

The opening half didn't start with that much action; it took until the 22nd minute for RSL to get off its first shot via Diogo Gonçalves, which Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver saved to get up to 616 in five seasons, just four from tying Tony Meola's record. Stuver got pressed into action again in the 40th minute on a Rwan Cruz attempt.

Austin, meanwhile, mustered one 11th-minute muffed chance from CJ Fodrey — earning his first start ever for the team that selected him in the SuperDraft in December 2022 — as the sum of their offensive effort for the first half.

In the 45th minute, Ojeda took a speculative shot from distance, bouncing it off Besard Šabović to carom it weirdly past Stuver, allowing RSL to get the lead heading into halftime.

Less than five minutes after halftime, Yedlin got a ball in on the right flank, and with ostensible fullback Guilherme Biro drifting inside rather than outside, Yedlin fired toward goal and caught Stuver off-guard to double the lead.

Austin FC head coach Nico Estévez decided to go hogwild in the 61th minute, putting in four subs: Owen Wolff for Diego Rubio, Dani Pereira for Nicolás Dubersarsky, Myrto Uzuni for Fodrey, and Osman Bukari for Jáder Obrian. (That you're seeing first names with first references for three of those four subs tells you just how effective they were.)

In the 70th, we got a fun sibling rivalry, with Tyler Wolff coming in for Gonçalves to face off against his brother.

RSL got another goal in the 82nd, with Olatunji getting led in by Diego Luna and catching Stuver out to get the 3-0 lead.

Stuver finished with 619 saves (we think, based on the last-gasp slow roller Stuver cradled) on his five-season tally, but could have broken the record if he'd saved the three goals he let in.

Šabović mildly redeemed himself with a goal in stoppage time, which effectively led me to do a little more work.

This match doesn't change the fact that Austin will play a final in four days — likely with a full-strength lineup.

Best Verde moment (that wasn’t a goal)

I'm struggling to come up with something. Maybe the Diego Rubio dark arts on Ojeda in the 54th minute, which was at least fun if not productive. Otherwise, this was a start-to-finish stinker.

Worst Verde moment (that wasn't a goal allowed)

Šabović mismanaged a chance in RSL's half right before the halftime whistle blew, on the back of his miffed defense to allow the goal. Not an outstanding night for Šabović, on the whole.

One thing you might have missed

Diego Luna (sporting teal hair) missed the opening kickoff because he was having an earring malfunction. Yes, I just typed that sentence.

One nerdy tidbit

RSL had more than 60% possession at halftime.

Where this fits into the season's narrative

This was an easy "win-and-you're-in" playoff-clinching match. Colorado drawing Minnesota, and Austin losing, means that Austin still hasn't locked in a playoff place. That's likely coming soon, but not tonight.

A question we have heading into the press conference

Though this was a match that was crying out for rotation, what is Estévez seeing in Šabović that merits a start?

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