MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Match Preview

Published on September 16, 2011 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah (Friday, September 16, 2011) - Real Salt Lake (13-7-6, 45 pts.) will look to improve upon its three-match winning streak tomorrow, Saturday, September 17, when it plays host to Sporting Kansas City (10-8-10, 40 pts.) at Rio Tinto Stadium. XanGo will present the 7:00 p.m. MT kickoff between RSL and the surging Eastern Conference power, which will be followed by a special post-game concert by internationally-acclaimed recording group OneRepublic, presented by Zions Bank.

RSL "Game Note" of the Match: Saborío Special for RSL Strike Force

RSL's predatory striker Álvaro Saborío moved into the team's 2011 scoring lead with his 8th goal of the year last week at Seattle, surpassing by one this year's MLS output for partner Fabian Espíndola ... The early 2nd-half game-winner was the 9th GWG for Saborio in his 43 MLS games over the last two seasons - placing him in a 1st place tie with Robbie Findley's 9 game-winners in 96 career MLS games - and the 20th MLS goal overall for the Costa Rican international ... "Sabo" was also RSL's leading scorer during the historic CONCACAF Champions League run, scoring 8 goals in 11 games ...

When Saborío - the first DP in RSL's seven-season history - finds the back of the net, Jason Kreis' team is a dominating 18-1-4 in all competitions (only loss was the rain-soaked 4-5 loss at Cruz Azul), compared to the 10-12-13 mark when he plays and does not score, as well as RSL's 7-3-4 record when Sabo is unavailable due to injury or national team duty.

RSL History v. Sporting KC

Back in May of 2009, the former Kansas City Wizards became the first team to come to Rio Tinto Stadium and win a regular-season match, riding a pair of Josh Wolff goals to win 2-0 ... All-time, Sporting KC holds a 6-4-3 advantage over RSL, outscoring the team from the Wasatch 20-18 ... In Utah, however, RSL holds a 3-2-1 mark and an 11-9 goal difference ... Last May, RSL defeated KC 4-1 in Sandy, getting goals from Fabian Espíndola, Álvaro Saborío, Robbie Russell and Ned Grabavoy ... Since that time, the teams tied 1-1 in KC last August, prior to RSL dropping an 0-2 decision in its inaugural visit to LIVESTRONG Sporting Park just six weeks ago on August 3, a match in which Roger Espinoza and Kei Kamara scored five minutes apart in the first half to lead the home-standing side to victory.

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