LUNA, GÓMEZ, JULIO PROVIDE BELIEF AND SPARK TO LEAD FIGHT BACK AT DALLAS
Real Salt Lake 3 : 3 FC Dallas
May 26, 2024; Toyota Stadium; Frisco, Texas
ReaL Salt Lake (8-2-5, 29 points, 1st West); FC Dallas (3-6-4, 13 points, 12th West)
Player Spotlight: Luna, Gómez continue fine form; Julio the supersub
Real Salt Lake’s trio of Diego Luna, Andres Gómez, and Anderson Julio proved the biggest fireworks on the night, leading the valiant and unexpected comeback as the Claret-and-Cobalt YET AGAIN fought back against the longest of odds to earn a hard-fought, last-gasp point on the road in a pulsating 3-3 draw against FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday, May 26, 2024.
Each of the trio managed to earn a place on the scoresheet to crown the team’s collective efforts, RSL surviving unexpected defensive breakdowns for the second successive game to extend its unbeaten streak alive and push it to 11 consecutive games without defeat, the Club’s second-longest single-season run of its kind, and perhaps most impressively, one which includes seven consecutive away results.
20-year-old Diego Luna proved arguably to be the brightest of the trio throughout the first half and up until he was replaced by Julio in the 62nd minute. Going into the game, Luna’s recent positive performances had been one of the biggest talking points ahead of an upcoming set of road fixtures that, on the evidence of this game, will surely prove a stern test of RSL’s title mettle, and the U.S. Olympic hopeful delivered a timely reminder of why he remains one of Major League Soccer’s most promising young attackers.
Luna’s full array of abilities were on display on the night with his dribbling abilities, creativity, and movement helping consistently create goalscoring chances - especially throughout the first half -
opening up space for his teammates as well as drawing tactical fouls from opponents.
Luna had the chance to open the scoring in the 28th minute when an over-the-top pass from Matt Crooks released him down the left, before winning a tussle with a Dallas defender to create space and time in the penalty box for a shot, but his low, right-footed effort at the near post was saved by Maarten Paes in goal for Dallas.
Luna then had another chance, this time in the 51st minute, to pull RSL on level terms with Dallas up a goal following the first of two defensive gaffes. A diagonal ball played by Gómez from the right half-space found Luna at the edge of the Dallas penalty area, the young dynamo managing to find a bit of space for a shot, but once again his low right-footed strike was well-saved by Paes.
Just 10 minutes later, an hour was gone and RSL suddenly and shockingly was down by THREE goals. Luna would score RSL’s first goal to provide a glimmer of hope, sparking the fightback just before being substituted. Crooks, playing in the hole between the Dallas midfield and defense, was given ample time and space to look up and play a sublime seeing-eye pass which split through the heart of the defense and found a Gómez run on the right side of the penalty area, the young Colombian promptly releasing a squared pass to Luna atop the six, “Moon Man” tucking the ball into an empty net to pull one back for RSL. Luna’s goal now takes his tally to three goals and seven assists so far this season.
RSL’s second-leading scorer, Andrés Gómez, also continued his impressive run of performances this season, highlighted by that assist for RSL’s first goal in the 61st minute to spark the comeback, his fifth assist and 10th goal contribution in total this season, second only to incendiary RSL Captain Chicho Arango and his 21 goal contributions (13 goals, 8 assists).
Gómez, yet again, provided an assured, consistent and mature performance in the face of growing adversity, proving his worth as one of the club’s biggest attacking performers and his growth as one of RSL’s leaders this season.
Long-time RSL “supersub” Anderson Julio also provided one of the team’s biggest performances on the night with an audacious goal 20 minutes from time to provide signs of life for the visitors, and then the Ecuadorean international calmly served up the equalizing assist on the last kick of the game to ensure RSL earned a share of the spoils. Having come on to replace Luna in the 61st minute, the 27-year old picked up the baton from his US teammate and delivered a timely reminder of RSL’s spirit of fightback and resilience.
With RSL two goals down and the clock ticking towards full time, Julio took the mantle upon himself to give the Claret-and-Cobalt a chance yet in the game with a truly world class goal in the 73rd minute. Receiving a simple pass on the left from Maikel Chang, and being just outside the penalty box, Julio took two touches first to settle himself and then cut inside slightly before rifling a thunderbolt to the near post, the ball flying past Paes before the keeper had time to react, the upper 90 laser slamming into the top right corner to put RSL within a goal.
In the game’s dying moments, Julio would provide the game-tying assist. A short corner routine found the Ecuadoran striker just inside the right-hand side of the box. with time and space to lay off a simple pass to teammate Nelson Palacio atop the box. The young, second-year Colombian midfielder subsequently delivered a low, right-footed arrow into the bottom corner to complete a historic last-gasp comeback, RSL’s first-ever in 629 MLS reg. season matches rescuing a point when trailing by three goals or more.
The result leaves RSL four points clear at the top of the Western Conference table, ahead of Minnesota United, which also drew on Saturday night. RSL next travel to visit Seattle Sounders FC on Wednesday, hoping to repeat its dominant 2-0 victory on May 15 in Utah. Kickoff at Lumen Field is at 8:30 p.m. MT, with coverage on the MLS Season Pass section of Apple TV+. For tickets to RSL’s next home game, Saturday, June 1 against Austin FC, or for schedule, standings, information, news and more about the Western Conference’s top team, please visit RSL.com/tickets.
Important Milestones:
- For the first time ever in RSL’s 629-game MLS reg. season history, the Club rebounded from an 0-3 deficit to secure a point; Diego Luna and Anderson Julio each scored their third goals of the season, both trailing Chicho Arango (13 goals) and Andres Gómez (7 goals); also, Nelson Palacio scored his first-ever RSL goal tonight.
- The active 11-game MLS unbeaten run is the second-longest single-season streak and the Club’s third-longest overall in RSL’s 20-season history, matching last year’s 11-game streak across three competitions, as well as a 16-game run from 2013 into 2014, and a Club-record 18-game unbeaten period from July 2010 to April 2011 … For the first time ever, RSL now owns back-to-back seasons with unbeaten runs of nine games or longer. With one more win/draw at Seattle Wednesday, RSL could establish a new single-season unbeaten streak record.
- Anderson Julio’s goal represented his 13th goal as a substitute for RSL, and his second career goal against Dallas. 14 of the striker’s 19 goals for RSL have come in the second half of games.
