HERRIMAN, Utah (Tues., Sept. 17, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (13-7-8, 47 points, t-3rd West MLS) resumes its 2024 Major League Soccer slate Wednesday night at home against FC Dallas (9-12-7, 34 points, 10th West), the second of three games in eight days from Sept. 14-21.
A full three points captured Wednesday would all but clinch an MLS Cup Playoff spot for the 14th time in the last 17 seasons, and for the fourth consecutive year under the guidance of Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni.
RSL returns home to the friendly confines of America First Field this week, remaining in the thick of the Western Conference race for a top-four seed and home-field advantage in the first-round, best-of-three opening series of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Claret-and-Cobalt host three of its next four matches and four of the final six overall on Utah soil, where the Claret-and-Cobalt have excelled this season.
Kickoff Saturday at America First Field is at 7:30p MT in Sandy, with the match available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as Blake Price & Paul Dolan (ENG) provide the call, as will Raul Guzman and Claudio Suarez (SPN).
Real Salt Lake boasts 9 wins and 1 draw against just 3 losses in League action at home this season, in addition to a 10thhome win over Atlas FC. This week’s home matches against Dallas and Portland are the first two of four remaining RSL home games this season.
Following the upcoming homestand, RSL’s September run finishes with yet another Texas road trip at Austin (Sat., Sept. 28). RSL then welcomes Minnesota on Wed., Oct. 2 and Vancouver on the Oct. 19 Decision Day, with a Sat., Oct. 5 road trip to the Bay Area prior to another FIFA international window the weekend of Oct. 12.
Despite a shocking loss on Aug. 24 to San Jose, the Utah side’s record on home soil this year is now 10-3-1 / 31 points across all competitions, with RSL welcoming both Dallas and Portland to the Wasatch Front on Sept. 18 and 21.
Four RSL players made their Club debuts in the recent two-game homestand coming out of the summer transfer window, with last Saturday’s 2-0 win to over the Revolution coming in front of yet another standing-room only crowd of 20,475 at America First Field, which has seen RSL produce eight consecutive sellouts and 11 in 14 home games this season.
Real Salt Lake v FC Dallas – MLS Matchday 33
America First Field – Sandy, UT
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 – 7:30p MT
Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass / KSL Sports Zone Radio
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM:
RSL looks to rebound from a 1-4 drubbing Saturday in Houston, a place in which it has not won since the 2018 season, defeating the Dynamo in just three of the last 14 meetings across all competitions.
RSL has see Houston end three different competitions in the 2023/24 campaigns, as RSL fell 1-3 at Houston in last year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal in a 120-minute affair, before being ousted from the first round of the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in a three-game series that saw the final two legs decided by penalty kicks.
On August 5 of this year, RSL fell 0-3 at Houston to suffer elimination from the 2024 Leagues Cup, when nearly any other result would have seen the Utah side win its group, which also included Atlas FC (Liga MX).
Earlier this year, RSL registered a 3-2 come-from-behind home win on July 3 against Houston to snap the recent drought; prior to last year’s reg. season loss, RSL went unbeaten against Houston in 11 consecutive games dating back to 2017, including five straight in South Texas. All-time, RSL owns a 3W-14L-6T record in Houston, with the Dynamo enjoying a +16 goal differential across all competitions.
FINAL STRETCH OF SEASON / PLAYOFF PUSH FOR PABLO:
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 1W-3L-0 record from July 20 – present 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.
YET ANOTHER BOUNCEBACK RESPONSE REGISTERED DURING MASTROENI ERA:
RSL’s 2-0 win over New England saw the Club rebound from back-to-back scoreless losses, including the 0-3 loss at Houston on August 5 and the August 24 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 131 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 those 10 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 131 games coached by Pablo since late August, 2021, matches following a loss has seen RSL bounce-back successfully and respond with 22 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 54W-46L-31T mark in MLS reg. 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 CONTENDER CHICHO ARANGO SUSPENDED WEDNESDAY:
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 – no longer the League’s Golden Boot leader, now two back of D.C. United’s Christian Benteke and tied with LAFC man Denis Bouanga despite the Colombian’s scoring drought July 13 – present – did play the final 45 minutes of an 0-3 loss at Houston in RSL’s second Leagues Cup group stage match.
On August 24, 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 missed the August 31 win, however, before going the full 90 in Saturday’s loss at Houston, earning a yellow card – his fifth of the season – forcing him out of Wednesday’s match. He is now expected to be at full strength when RSL resumes MLS action this weekend against Portland.
