Real Salt Lake loses Cristian Arango, sees 15-match unbeaten run end in 1-0 loss to Galaxy
SANDY, Utah (AP) — Rookie Gabriel Pec scored the lone goal late in the second half and John McCarthy made it stand up as the Los Angeles Galaxy snapped Real Salt Lake's single-season club-record 15-match unbeaten streak with a 1-0 victory on Saturday night after RSL lost captain Cristian “Chicho” Arango to concussion protocol in the first half.
Arango was forced to leave for Real Salt Lake (10-3-7) in the 21st minute after he banged heads with Galaxy defender Martín Cáceres. Anderson Julio replaced Arango and Jalen Neal came in for Cáceres. Arango leads the league with 16 goals and 26 goal contributions this season.
The Galaxy (10-3-7), Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles FC are tied for the top spot in the Western Conference with 37 points.
Pec scored for the sixth time — to go along with seven assists — in 16 starts and 19 appearances this season. Pec took passes from Dejan Joveljic and Edwin Cerrillo in the 71st minute and scored to help the Galaxy win for the third time in a row. It was Joveljic's fifth assist this season and the first for Cerrillo.
McCarthy had four saves to earn his second straight and fifth clean sheet of the season for the Galaxy.
Zac MacMath saved two shots for Real Salt Lake. McCarthy had three saves and MacMath wasn't tested in a scoreless first half.
Real Salt Lake went 9-0-6 during its unbeaten run. The club was playing at home for the first time since a 5-1 romp over Austin FC three weeks ago.
LA leads the all-time series 21-17-13.
LA is 2-0-3 in its last five matchups with Real Salt Lake. In their last trip to town, the Galaxy rallied for a 3-2 victory on the final day of May last season.
The Galaxy remain on the road to play the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday. Real Salt Lake is idle until the Houston Dynamo come to town on July 3.
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