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Real Salt Lake Continues 2024 MLS Stretch Run Saturday against New England

August 30, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake (12-6-8, 44 points, 3rd West MLS) resumes to its 2024 Major League Soccer slate Saturday night at home against the New England Revolution (8-14-2, 26 points, 12th East), the second of back-to-back home matches at America First Field in Sandy, UT, to close out the month of August. New England arrives in Utah for the first time since 2018, with two wins all-time against six losses and three draws here. Two of RSL's most dominant home wins in its Sandy-based venue have come against the Revolution, with the Claret-and-Cobalt winning 6-0 and 5-0 in back-to-back 2009/10 visits by New England.

RSL remains in the thick of the Western Conference top-seed race, with the Claret-and-Cobalt hosting three of its next four matches and five of the final eight overall on Utah soil, where Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni's side has excelled this season. Kickoff Saturday is at 7:30p MT at America First Field in Sandy, with the match available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as Mark Rogondino & Heath Pearce (ENG) provide the call, as will Moises Linares and Pablo Marino (SPN).

Prior to Saturday's loss, RSL completed the most active summer transfer window in the team's 20-year history, with five new players arriving on the Wasatch Front: FW Benji Michel, DF Javain Brown, M/F Lachlan Brook, MF Diogo Gonçalves and FW Dominik Marczuk. Three of the four signings - Portuguese Designated Player Gonçalves, former Vancouver centerback Brown and Australian youth international Brook - each made their RSL and/or MLS debuts Saturday, bringing the total number of debutants this year to 11, and the all-time number of RSL players in the Club's 20-year MLS history to 215.

Due to P-1 visa acquisition process, Polish youth international Marczuk hopes to don the Claret-and-Cobalt for the first time this Saturday, August 31, at home against the New England Revolution, becoming the 12th player to debut this year and the 216th all-time. Outgoing RSL players during the recently-closed MLS window include MF Fidel Barajas (sold to Chivas Guadlajara in LIGA MX), FW Andrés Gómez (sold to Stade Rennais in French Ligue 1) and DF Bryan Oviedo (waived).

Last Saturday saw RSL drop an 0-2 home decision to San Jose in the Club's first contest on Utah soil since its August 1 Leagues Cup match against Atlas FC (Liga MX), a 2-1 comeback win on goals from FW Anderson Julio (45+2') and MF Nelson Palacio (79').

Despite last week's loss, the Utah side's record on home soil this year is 9-3-1 / 28 points, with RSL welcoming both Dallas and Portland to the Wasatch Front on Sept. 18 and 21. Three RSL players made their Club debuts in Saturday's 0-2 loss to the Earthquakes in front of yet another standing-room only crowd of 21,015 at America First Field, which has seen RSL produce seven consecutive sellouts and nine in 13 home games this season.

Real Salt Lake v. New England Revolution - MLS Matchday 30

America First Field - Sandy, UT

Saturday, August 31, 2024 - 7:30p MT

Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass

YET ANOTHER BOUNCEBACK RESPONSE REQUIRED DURING MASTROENI ERA ::

RSL returns to MLS action Saturday again looking to rebound from back-to-back scoreless losses, including the 0-3 loss at Houston on August 5 and last week's 0-2 loss to San Jose. The resilience, response and determination of RSL's collective DNA during the Pablo Mastroeni era - also known as the "xDAWG" mentality - was on full display in that August 1, 2-1 come-from-behind home win for RSL against Atlas, following a 12-day break after the disappointing Rocky Mountain Cup loss on July 20 in Colorado. During 129 games coached by Mastroeni since taking the Claret-and-Cobalt reins in late August, 2021, RSL has dropped back-to-back matches now just 10 times overall - with four of the previous nine occurring last August, following the season-ending, non-contact knee injury suffered by metronomic playmaker Pablo Ruiz in mid-August at LAFC in the Leagues Cup Round of 32 match.

In those 129 games coached by Pablo since late August, 2021, matches following a loss has seen RSL bounce-back successfully and respond with 21 wins and 13 draws against just 10 losses, avoiding long droughts and not letting losing streaks fester. Mastroeni's all-time RSL record across all competitions is now 53W-45L-31T mark in MLS re season, MLS Cup Playoff, Leagues Cup, Open Cup and int'l friendly matches, guiding the Club to the 2021 MLS Western Conference Final and the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal.

MLS GOLDEN BOOT LEADER CHICHO ARANGO QUESTIONABLE THIS WEEK ::

That August 1 Atlas FC home match represented the fourth and final match with MLS suspension imposed on RSL Captain, Colombian striker and MLS Golden Boot leader Chicho Arango, who also missed the 1-1 July 17 RSL draw at LAFC, the 2-3 loss at Colorado on July 20, the July 24 MLS All-Star Game against the Liga MX All-Stars.

Chicho - still the League's Golden Boot leader, now even with D.C. United's Christian Benteke and one ahead of LAFC man Denis Bouanga despite the Colombian's scoring drought July 13-20 - did play the final 45 minutes of an 0-3 loss at Houston in RSL's second Leagues Cup group stage match.

Last Saturday, Chicho started for RSL, but pulled himself out just a few minutes shy of halftime, feeling tightness in his right hamstring and taking extraordinary caution. Chicho could still be available this weekend, however, and is expected to be a full strength when RSL resumes MLS action on Sat., Sept. 14 in Houston.

PALACIO BLAST LATEST IN STRING OF LONG-RANGE RSL HEROICS ::

RSL MF Nelson Palacio's scintillating, game-winning ZAPATAZO August 1 from deep - 38 yards out, 78.1 mph (according to Sportrac) - marks the latest in a string of long-range RSL heroics, with Captain Chicho Arango scoring from midfield back on June 1 in a 5-1 home win against Austin as part of his hat trick that day, while MF Pablo Ruiz saw his 68-yard offering at Audi Field in Washington D.C. last summer a finalist for the 2023 MLS Goal of the Year. RSL's Sandy, Utah-based venue might not be a desired place in the future for Mexican power Atlas FC, the Rojinegros also playing at the venue now known as America First Field back in October, 2022, as part of that year's "Leagues Cup Showcase" match. Despite RSL falling at home, 1-2, that midweek October night, the game will be remembered for former RSL Homegrown Aaron Herrera's long-range goal - a 78-yard bombazo - that gave the home side the lead.

HOME-HEAVY MLS SCHEDULE FINISHES OUT 2024 CAMPAIGN ::

With the sun now finally set on the 2024 Leagues Cup tournament, RSL plays five of its final eight MLS contests at home, where the Claret-and-Cobalt boast 8 wins and 1 draw against just 3 losses in league action this season, in addition to a ninth home win over Atlas FC. Saturday's home match against the New England Revolution (8-14-2, 26 points, 12th East) is the second of two remaining RSL games to close out August.

Following the Sept. 7 weekend international break, RSL's September run is bookended by a pair of Texas road trips to Austin (Sept. 14) and Houston (Sept. 28), on either side of home games against Dallas and Portland on Sept. 18/21. RSL welcomes Minnesota on Oct. 2 and Vancouver on the Oct. 19 Decision Day, with an Oct. 5 road trip to the Bay Area prior to another FIFA international window the weekend of Oct. 12.

During the Pablo Mastroeni era - qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs in each of the three previous seasons - RSL has endured a rollercoaster ride in the final 10 games of each season. Time now to nip the 0-2-0 record from July 20 / August 24 MLS contests in the bud.

Back in 2021, RSL split its 10 games under Pablo, winning five and dropping five, securing a dramatic Decision Day win at Kansas City to qualify for the postseason, eventually progressing to the West Final and suffering elimination at Portland.

In 2022, RSL posted a 3-3-4 / 13-point finish, suffering unexpected home draws / losses but delivering yet another Decision Day win, this time a dominant 3-1 home victory over Portland. That year's RSL side burst out to a 2-0 lead at Austin courtesy an early Sergio Cordova brace in a first-round MLS Cup Playoff match, but a 53rd-minute Rubio Rubin ejection ended up with RSL falling in PKs after 120 minutes.

Last season, RSL went 4-5-1 / 13 points in its final 10 matches, as it learned how to play without injured metronome Pablo Ruiz following his non-contact Leagues Cup Round of 16 injury at LAFC. RSL did win three of its final five last year, including its lone win at LAFC on a late Chicho Arango goal, and a 1-0 Decision Day victory at Colorado, one that saw Diego Luna emerge and announce his presence with authority, scoring four goals in his final five matches of 2023, including the three-game series with Houston, which again saw RSL eliminated by the narrowest of margins, as both games two and three of the first-round series were decided by PKs.

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