Here are three observations from Real Salt Lake’s 4-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids from beat writer Alex Vejar.

1. Sizzling second half

Defender Nedum Onuoha said it succinctly at halftime.

“I don’t think we’ve played that well,” he said in reference to RSL’s performance in the first 45 minutes.

RSL was down 1-0 after giving up an own goal from defender Aaron Herrera, and it wasn’t getting anything it wanted on offense. But coach Freddy Juarez made one adjustment that unlocked everything.

By bringing in forward Maikel Chang to replace midfielder Everton Luiz, that shifted key players around the field. Corey Baird took the striker’s position to stretch Colorado’s back line. Albert Rusnák went from the wing to the middle, where he feels most effective. Damir Kreilach moved back to the midfield after playing forward for a spell because Douglas Martínez left with an injury just 10 minutes in.

“I think we just had more guys in their natural positions and we started to play more in their half,” forward Justin Meram said.

That wasn’t the only adjustment Juarez made. He also asked his players not to receive the ball too deep in their defensive half. Instead, they were to stay wide and higher up the field in an effort to create more forward movement. It was a needed adjustment considering the statistics.

In the graphic below, it’s clear that in the first half, RSL made short passes mostly laterally or backwards in the back half of the field.

But in the next graphic from the second half, Juarez’s adjustment is illuminated. The passes are longer and not nearly as many are going side to side.

“I thought we were getting possession,” Juarez said. “We were just giving away the possession with maybe the pass that we didn’t want to give. That was the biggest change in the second half — just being a little more aggressive with the pass.”

It worked to the tune of four goals in about 33 minutes.

2. Kreilach screamin'

Leave it to Kreilach to put away a beauty.

He’s already known as the Karate Kid for his acrobatic goal against LAFC in the 2018 playoffs. And while the one he put away Saturday wasn’t as iconic, it was just as nasty (the good kind).

Meram laid off a good pass right to Kreilach, who was so open he could have calmly sipped a cup of coffee before letting it fly.

Kreilach recorded three total shots against the Rapids, all of them on goal. He leads the team with two goals this season after scoring six in 2019.

Kreilach’s natural position may not be a forward or a striker. He probably won’t ever get RSL 15-20 goals in a season. But he’s consistently one for theatrics.

3. How ‘bout those restarts?

Starts to the 2020 season for RSL have gone quite well.

They earned a tough draw on the road against Orlando to start the season. They beat Colorado in the first game of the MLS is Back Tournament. And on Saturday, they took care of the Rapids again with a 4-1 road victory.

In a strange season that’s sputtered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RSL has played some of its best soccer in the opening games of when play has started. Saturday marked the third restart to Salt Lake’s 2020 season.

Meram thinks the reason the team has played so well in opening games this year is what I’m calling “intersquad fatigue.”

“I think we’re just excited,” Meram said. “We’re sick and tired of playing 11-v-11 against each other for weeks. We want to go out and kick somebody else and really battle and play for one another in a real match.”

Juarez had a different theory. He credited RSL’s play in openers to the strength and conditioning team of Matt Howley and Ryan Cotter. He said they do “a heck of a job” keeping the players ready and in good shape.

Whatever it is, RSL has come to play after long layoffs in 2020, whether it’s preseason or related to the coronavirus pandemic. The team should try figuring out a way of bottling that up and translating it to the remainder of the season.