Following his sizzling goal from distance, earning the game’s opening penalty and slotting home the game-winenr Wednesday night in RSL’s 3-2 home win over visiting FC Dallas, Ecuadoran forward Anderson Julio becomes the latest RSL player to be named to Major League Soccer’s “Team of the Matchday” for the 2024 season’s Matchday 33.
Wednesday night’s goal from nearly 58 yards out was Julio’s eighth of the 2024 campaign, later adding a ninth for his second multi-goal game of the season. Julio is now just one goal shy of joining Chicho Arango (17 goals) and Andrés Gómez (13 goals) as the third RSL man with 10+ goals in a single-season, the first time in the Club’s 20 seasons a trio has attained that threshold.
Julio’s 57.5-yard goal in the 24th minute stands as the second-furthest goal for RSL this season, trailing only Captain Chicho Arango’s own-half goal (62.7 Yards) on June 1 against Austin FC. During his years at RSL, Julio has now scored 12 goals as a starter and 14 as a substitute, with 16 of his 26 career RSL goals scored in the second half, with nine of the 16 coming after the game’s 80thminute.
Wednesday’s victory improved RSL to 11 wins, three losses and one draw for 34 points across all competitions earned on home soil this year, vaulting RSL into second place in the West heading into Saturday’s critical match against rival Portland Timbers, led by Evander, Julio’s primary competitor for this week’s MLS Player of the Matchday. Saturday’s home match is expected to see the return of Captain Chicho Arango and left back Alex Katranis, each of whom served caution accumulation suspensions Wednesday after their fifth yellow cards of the year in Saturday’s 1-4 loss at Houston, the Club’s heaviest of the season.
The bounceback 3-2 win Wednesday over Dallas embodies the mentality and resilience of the Pablo Mastroeni era, with RSL losing in back-to-back matches on just 10 occasions in 132 games played across all competitions since August, 2021, when Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni assumed the Club’s reins.
RSL had sold out eight consecutive contests in Sandy and nine of 14 this season prior to Wednesday’s 19,436 crowd, with standing-room tickets still available at www.RSL.com/tickets for the upcoming weekend against Portland. RSL then heads to Austin FC on Sept. 28, before returning home on Oct. 2 against Minnesota and then welcoming back Club icon Damir Kreilach on Oct. 19 "Decision Day."
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