Marco Reus Powers Galaxy to Victory Over Real Salt Lake

Marco Reus scored a late penalty kick for his second goal of the match as the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated visiting Real Salt Lake 2-1 on Sunday at Carson, Calif.

JT Marcinkowski made nine saves, including two in extra time to atone for an earlier mishap, for the Galaxy (3-4-3, 12 points), who secured their first win in three league matches.

Rafael recorded four saves for Real Salt Lake (5-3-1, 16 points).

The goals for Reus marked his third and fourth of the season.

His first goal came nine minutes into the game from a free kick.

Real Salt Lake equalized in first-half extra time when an unfortunate incident for Marcinkowski led to an own goal. Zavier Gozo struck the post with a shot from the right side as Marcinkowski lunged to make the save. The ball then bounced off the post and hit Marcinkowski’s back, resulting in a goal.

The winning goal was created when Elijah Wynder drew a foul in the penalty area on Real Salt Lake’s Samuel Junqua. Reus successfully converted the penalty in the 85th minute.

Despite Marcinkowski’s misfortune, the Galaxy demonstrated a solid defensive effort after conceding two goals in each of their previous two matches.

The Galaxy outperformed Real Salt Lake in corner kicks, finishing with a 7-0 advantage. They edged slightly ahead in total shots (16-15), while Real Salt Lake had more shots on target (9-7) and a greater percentage of possession time at 54.6%.

Real Salt Lake had previously scored seven goals over two matches earlier this month but has now suffered defeats in two consecutive games, following a 2-0 loss to Inter Miami on Wednesday.

The match featured Galaxy midfielder Lucas Sanabria going up against his brother, Juan Manuel Sanabria, a Uruguay international who joined RSL this offseason.