SANDY, Utah — Andrés Gómez had two goals in the first half and added an assist to give Real Salt Lake a 3-0 home-opening win over LAFC in a game played in a near blizzard Saturday.
The start of the game was pushed back two hours because of the weather and just a couple minutes in was delayed almost an hour because of lightning.
LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo criticized the decision to play the game in such deplorable conditions, calling it “a joke.”
“The game could have and should have been called,” Cherundolo said, according to Tom Bogert of The Athletic. “It was an absolute disgrace to play.”
LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo sounds off on the snow game:
“It was an absolute joke we had to play today."
“The game could have and should have been called (off). It was an absolute disgrace to play.”
"I don't understand why on earth we'd count a game like that." pic.twitter.com/OBx7QQDHYT
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) March 3, 2024
Gómez took a feed from Cristian Arango, made a nice touch on the slick field to get around the last defense and beat keeper Hugo Lloris one-on-one in the 18th minute. Gómez, who had one goal last season, got his second in the 41st minute when he took a back pass from Diego Luna and sent a ball into the corner.
Gómez sent a cross into the box during first-half extra time and a sliding Arango redirected the ball into the net. He then made a snow angel to celebrate the goal against his former team.
Zac MacMath made six saves for RSL (1-1-1) for his 61st shutout.
LAFC (1-1-0) had a 16-10 edge in shots.