SANDY, Utah — Anderson Julio scored on a breakaway in the 95th minute to give Real Salt Lake a 2-1 victory over the slumping Galaxy on Wednesday night.
The Galaxy (11-11-5, 38 points) had its winless run extended to eight matches, while Salt Lake (11-10-6, 39 points) won for the third time in its last four games and edged past the Galaxy in the Western Conference standings.
“I was extremely proud of the fight, the work, the performance, the play of everything about it, except for we conceded two goals and two very bad moments within the game,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We had many chances. We only were able to get one (goal). … For me, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a big lesson, a turning point for this group, because I feel a different energy in the locker room right now than I’ve ever felt this entire season.”
Julio got a touch on Damir Kreilach’s long pass to get away from two defenders and he volleyed it inside the far post, past a diving Jonathan Bond.
Kreilach opened the scoring for Salt Lake in the 45th minute with a header that went off the hands of Bond and rolled over the line. Kreilach has four goals in his last five games and 12 overall this season.
Javier “Chicharito” Hernández scored for the Galaxy in the 76th by settling a pass from Efraín Álvarez and beating goalkeeper David Ochoa to the near post.
Chicharito also had good scoring chances in the 16th and 57th minutes, but Ochoa batted away the first and used a kick save to deny a breakaway.
“These moments are when the character comes out from all of us. This loss is on me because my standards are higher than that. I cannot miss those clear chances,” Hernandez said. “… If I would have been a little bit more ruthless, the game probably changes completely. I didn’t have a great game.
“You can be playing incredible for 85, 86, 87 minutes. But then in two minutes, everything can change. That’s the pressure.”
The sixth-place Galaxy will host LAFC (9-12-6, 33 points) on Sunday, the final game before the international break. The top seven teams in the conference will qualify for the playoffs.
“The one thing that we are learning as a group is still how to win that big game and how to put together all the pieces,” Vanney said. “We’ve got a hell of a lot to fight for down the stretch. We’re well aware of that and I think the group believes in their ability to get it done.”
