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Real Salt Lake Hosts Sporting Kansas City in 2021 Season Opener

April 30, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


HERRIMAN, Utah - Real Salt Lake opens its 2021 home schedule against rival Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, May 1 at 12:00 p.m. MT, marking the team's first match at Rio Tinto Stadium in five months and 23 days. The match will be broadcast live locally on KMYU and streamed on the KSL TV app. ESPN 700 will carry the English radio Broadcast and Spanish-speaking fans can tune in on KBMG Latino 106.3, La Gran D 102.3 and KTUB 1600.

Tickets for the match are available at RSL.com or by calling 844-REAL-TIX.

Real Salt Lake vs. Sporting Kansas City

Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, Utah

Saturday, May 1, 2021; 12:00 p.m. MT

Records: Real Salt Lake 1-0-0, 3 points; Sporting Kansas City (1-1-0, 4 points)

Head-to-Head: Real Salt Lake has a slight edge over Sporting Kansas City with an all-time record of 13-11-8, including a 9-5-3 record at home.

The last time these two sides faced each other was RSL's last game of the 2020 season on November 8, which was also the last time the team played at Rio Tinto Stadium. The match ended in a 2-0 loss for RSL. The orange balls made a rare appearance during the cold-weather match and it was a tale of beginnings and endings as the match marked Nedum Onuoha and Kyle Beckerman's last appearances before retirement and the first MLS appearance for goalkeeper David Ochoa.

Stories to Watch:

It's Rivalry Week

The Western Conference is full of historic rivalries, nearly all of which are based on geography, but the storied rivalry between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City was birthed organically after several on-field skirmishes between players, dating back to 2011. While most of the players from that era have long since moved on, the intense, aggressive, gritty battle between the two sides has carried on. RSL will be out for redemption on Saturday after losing both matches to Sporting during the 2020 season

Team of the Week

After a two-goal game in his RSL debut Anderson Julio was named to the MLS team of the Week. In his second appearance with the first team, goalkeeper David Ochoa made one save to make the MLS Team of the Week bench where he is joined by Sporting Kansas City forward Gianluca Busio.

Welcome to Our House

In its 16 previous seasons Real Salt Lake has only lost one home-opening match, having amassed a 6-1-9 record since joining the league in 2005. The only time RSL lost in a home opener was during the 2018 season when the team fell to Los Angeles FC. Last year's home opener was a 1-1 draw against the New York Red Bulls thanks to a goal from Damir Kreilach at the death to tie it up.

Connections: Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia was a member of Real Salt Lake during the 2010 and 2011 seasons, serving as a backup to RSL legend Nick Rimando. Since joining Sporting KC in 2015 he has appeared in 167 matches and was named 2015 MLS Comeback Player of the Year and 2017 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Due to an injury Melia has not yet played this season and may miss Saturday's contest.

Notes: Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake have two of the largest contingencies of Homegrown players, with RSL having 11 and KC with 10. This season SKC has had three Homegrowns in their starting lineup - Gianluca Busio, Jaylin Lindsey and Daniel Salloi. Meanwhile, RSL had four Homegrowns in their starting lineup against Minnesota with Justen Glad, Aaron Herrera, David Ochoa and Donny Toia.

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