MLS Real Salt Lake

Real Salt Lake Remains Home Saturday v Atlanta United

July 5, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah - Real Salt Lake (11-3-7 / 40 points / 2nd West) remains at home for the second of two games this week, now hosting Atlanta United Saturday night following Wednesday's 3-2 win over Houston. These back-to-back home games kick off a five-game July as RSL seeks to remain in both MLS Supporters Shield and Western Conference top-seed contention. Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni's team will look to improve upon its 7-2-1 / 22-point home mark thus far in 2024. Kickoff Saturday in Sandy is at 7:30p MT, available on Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, with Max Bretos and Brian Dunseth (ENG) and Diego Pessolano and Daniel Chapela (SPN) on the call from America First Field.

RSL - now three points shy of LAFC, but three points ahead of the LA Galaxy in the race for Western Conference supremacy - follows up this week's home games with a three-game road week starting on July 13 to Portland, a week that also sees trips to LAFC (July 17) and Colorado (July 20) prior to the 2024 MLS All-Star Game in Columbus (July 24), featuring both Captain Chicho Arango and Homegrown Justen Glad.

Wednesday, RSL saw dynamic young Colombian Andrés Gómez lead the charge, scoring a first-half equalizer and assisting on goals by both Diego Luna and Braian Ojeda. Gómez is now top-10 in MLS with both 11 goals and nine assists, while Luna has added four goals and nine assists on the year. Ojeda's game-winner marked his first goal in 63 games with RSL since arriving in late summer 2022.

Real Salt Lake v Atlanta United - MLS Matchday 25

America First Field - Sandy, UT

Saturday, July 6, 2024 - 7:30p MT

STREAK SNAPPED

Back on June 22, RSL lost an MLS match for the first time since March 9, falling at home 0-1 to the LA Galaxy in a match marred by Chicho Arango's head injury just 16 minutes into the game. RSL's 15-game MLS unbeaten run established a new record for the Club's longest single-season streak in team history - while also matching the Portland Timbers (2013, 2018) and Colorado Rapids (2016) for the second-longest in MLS regular-season history (FC Dallas' 19 games unbeaten in 2010). In RSL's 20-season history, RSL also enjoyed a 16-game run from 2013 into 2014 (including a 12-game single-season run in 2014), and a Club-record 18-game unbeaten streak from July 2010 to April 2011 (2010 includes a 14-game single-season run, RSL's previous best) ...

ATTACKING ROLLERCOASTER FOR RSL

RSL suffered two shutouts in mid-June, blanked at Montreal in a 0-0 result and in the Galaxy loss eight days later. Between the two, however, RSL rebounded to score four goals on the road for the second time (April 20 at Chicago) this season June 19 in Kansas City, while scoring three last time out against Houston. The scoreless draw at Montreal was RSL's second of the season (also posting a disappointing 0-0 at home against a rotated Columbus side on April 13), while the donut against the Galaxy was just the fourth shutout suffered by RSL this season (Feb. 21 at Miami in a 2-0 loss). Conversely, RSL has also scored five goals in a game twice this year, both at home; first on May 18 in the 5-3 comeback against Colorado, and two weeks later on June 1 in the 5-1 over Austin FC, RSL's last home appearance prior to the Galaxy disappointment.

With both Chicho (16 goals) and Andrés Gómez (11 goals) securing double-digit goal totals this season, RSL has a pair of 10+ scorers in a single season for the first time since 2021 (Kreilach, 16 goals; Rusnák, 11 goals). Should Julio (six goals) or another player reach double-digits, RSL would have a 10+ goal-scoring trio for the first time ever.

RSL's 43 goals scored this year ranks second in MLS (Miami, 50) but leads the West along with LAFC's 43 ... RSL no longer boasts the best goal differential in MLS this season, at plus-18, with both surging LAFC and Miami now at plus-19. Only three other teams have amassed double-digit goal differentials so far in 2024, as Columbus (plus-18), Cincinnati (plus-11) and LA Galaxy (plus-13) join RSL and LAFC / Miami.

DEFENSIVE VOLATILITY FOR RSL

The clean sheet logged at Montreal June 15 did mark the Club's sixth of the year in 21 MLS reg. season games, with veteran GK Zac MacMath notching four of those six. Prior to conceding three June 19 in Kansas City, RSL had allowed just two goals in its previous 270 minutes played, at Seattle (1-1 draw) and v Austin (5-1 win) prior to the scoreless draw in Quebec. However, RSL has now allowed three goals on three different occasions in the last month or so, starting with May 18 at home against Colorado and then again on May 25 against Dallas.

CAPTAIN CHICHO RETAINS GOLDEN BOOT LEAD

Despite his injury-marred appearance on June 22 and an idle RSL on June 29, RSL Captain Chicho Arango still leads the MLS Golden Boot race with 16 goals in 21 games, adding 11 assists to outlast Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, as Chicho boasts a League-leading 27 goal contributions this season. Arango returns home this week needing just one goal to match and two goals to break RSL's single-season scoring record (Alvaro Saborio, 2012) ...

When he does score or assist - as he has in 14 of 21 MLS matches this year - RSL owns 10 wins and three draws (May 11 brace at LA Galaxy wasted, with the Claret-and-Cobalt failing to score at Miami Feb. 24 and April 13 v. Columbus) against just one loss, with Chicho's assist on an Emeka Eneli goal back on March 9 coming in the home defeat to Colorado.

Chicho also provided a three-goal explosion in a 21-minute span in the Utah side's come-from-behind 3-1 home win over St. Louis on March 30, the Club's first hat trick since September 1, 2018 (Damir Kreilach). Chicho's three-goal performances are just the seventh and eighth of RSL's now 635-game MLS history, the Colombian joining Alvaro Saborio (three hats - two in 2012, one in 2013), along with Robbie Findley (2009), Javier Morales (2014) and Kreilach (2018). Former Captain, head coach and current Club director Jason Kreis also had a hat trick, albeit in the 2005 U.S. Open Cup.

Arango now has three hat tricks in his MLS career - his first was for LAFC in late 2021 against Dallas - and now boasts 115 goals as a professional, including 59 goals in 96 games across all competitions since arriving in MLS for LAFC and RSL. Since appearing on the Wasatch Front last July, Chicho boasts 22 goals and 12 assists in 32 MLS reg. season appearances for the Claret-and-Cobalt, with those numbers increasing to 24 goals and 15 assists in 40 RSL games across all competitions (incl. Leagues Cup, Open Cup, Playoffs).

FOUR WEEKS AWAY FROM LEAGUES CUP OPENER: On August 1, RSL kicks off its participation in the 2024 Leagues Cup, the second year of the 47-team, 78-game tournament, with three CONCACAF Champions Cup berths on the line ... RSL is grouped with a road tilt away at Houston Dynamo (MLS) on August 5, with the home opener on August 1 against Atlas CF (MEX) match at America First Field in its West 2 group, with single-elimination knockout games to follow leading up to an August 25 title match.

Based on last year's fifth-seeded West finish (14W-12L-8T, 50 points, 48 GF / 50 GA), RSL will be grouped with both Houston and Liga MX side Atlas F.C. in Leagues Cup 2024 this July ... RSL last faced Atlas in the 2022 Leagues Cup "Showcase" match in Utah, dropping a 1-2 decision despite former DF Aaron Herrera's wondergoal from 65 yards away over the retreating goalkeeper.

Due to the new for 2024 Leagues Cup seeding formula, RSL will once again travel to Houston for a group stage LC match in addition to its two MLS reg. season games against the Dynamo, with RSL now winless in its last six games against Houston - all last year - across all competitions. Prior to the active six-game streak without a win against the South Texas side, RSL had seen great success against the Dynamo, which defeated RSL for the first time in 11 games dating back to 2017 in last year's Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal.

Check out the Real Salt Lake Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from July 5, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central