LA Galaxy suffer 3-0 setback to Real Salt Lake

The LA Galaxy suffered another disappointing result on the road, falling to Real Salt Lake 3-0 before a record crowd Saturday night in Sandy Utah.

With the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas losing this weekend, the LA Galaxy squandered an important chance to leapfrog both teams in the Supporters Shield standings.

#LAGalaxy XI: Ricketts; DLG, Gonzalez, Leonardo, Rogers; Zardes, Juninho, Gerrard, Lletget; Keane, Dos Santos #RSLvLA pic.twitter.com/K73t05of1N

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) September 20, 2015

Just three minutes into the contest, Real Salt Lake took a shock lead. Javier Morales played a dangerous cross inside the box, and the ball deflected into the path of a completely unmarked Devon Sandoval, and theforward powered a shot past Donovan Ricketts and off the right post to give RSL the early advantage.

The Galaxy responded with the help of Giovani Dos Santos, who drew a foul before his free kick found the head of Steven Gerrard, but the ball deflected wide.

In the 16th minute, a wild sequence of events following an Omar Gonzalez header eventually led to Dos Santos winning the ball inside the six but blasting his attempt from point-blank range over the ball.

Keeping up the pressure, Robbie Keane had Juninho on his left shoulder during a dangerous 3 on 2 counter-attacking opportunity, but his pass to the Brazilian was poor and the chance was lost. Soon afterwards, AJ DeLaGarza had space on the right wing and located Gerrard, but his powerful shot was straight at goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

In the 28th minute, tragedy struck again for LA. New Real Salt Lake Designated Player Juan "Burrito" Martinez was brought down inside the area due to an uncharacteristic error by Juninho, who was late with his tackle, sending the Argentine tumbling to the ground away from goal. Javier Morales stepped up and buried the penalty kick to double RSL's lead.

The Galaxy continued to press despite the lopsided scoreline. A quick combination play between Gerrard and Gio led to Keane firing from close range, but again the ball was at Rimando, who made the save.

Two minutes into injury time, Juninho blasted another shot inside the area over the bar as LA lamented their missed chances. 

The second half wasn't much better for LA, and RSL finished off the Galaxy in the 53rd minute when Martinez spun around Leonardo before chipping in a perfect cross that Devon Sandoval smashed past a helpless Rickettts for the brace.

Late in the match, Gyasi Zardes played a beautiful cross to Alan Gordon that split the RSL defense, but the substitute's breakaway attempt bounced off Rimando to Edson Buddle, however Buddle blasted high and wide in a terrible shot that summed up the night for the visitors.

The Galaxy head back to LA to battle FC Dallas in an important match next week.