Real Salt Lake 3 at 1 St. Louis City SC
June 21, 2023; CITYPARK; St. Louis, Missouri
Real Salt Lake (7-7-5, 26 points); St. Louis City SC (9-7-2, 29 points)
Man of the Match: RSL Homegrown and U.S. U-20 World Cup star **Diego Luna** had a breakout performance in RSL’s 3-1 win over St. Louis City SC, scoring his first-career goal with the Club and recording his first two assists on the go-ahead and game-sealing goals. Getting his third starting nod since returning from the FIFA U-20 World Cup, Luna had looked sharp in his last two appearances with a handful of scoring chances. The Homegrown’s night started strong in the 15th minute, scoring his first-career goal with Real Salt Lake when he curled a one-timer into the far side netting off a pass from **Danny Musovski**. Luna’s dribbling skills, which were on full display in Argentina at the U-20 World Cup, came in handy in the 48th minute as he split two defenders at the top of the box and dished the ball off to **Maikel Chang** who set up **Damir Kreilach** for the second goal of the game. Luna was once again an integral piece of the build up play on RSL’s third goal, threading a through ball down the wing for **Andrew Brody** who laid a pass in for Kreilach to knock home inside the 18-yard-box. In addition to scoring his first-ever Major League Soccer goal, Luna also became the youngest player in Club history to record at least one assist and one goal in a match.
Telling Stats: RSL continues to improve upon its league-leading away record, becoming the first team in the league to win five matches on the road, winning 17 of its total 26 points away from home. RSL also improved its record against expansion sides on the road, now sitting at 2-8-2. St. Louis City SC was undefeated when scoring two or more goals, and the RSL defense ensured that the hosts would not reach the match-defining two-goal tally. Luna’s first-career goal in the 15th minute made him the 98th goal scorer in Club history and was the seventh time in the last nine matches that RSL has scored first (6-0-1 when scoring first).
What You Missed: Fifteen minutes in, the RSL attack came knocking on the door as Danny Musovski burst down the right wing. Musovski centered a pass at the top of the 18 for captain Damir Kreilach, who ran a dummy run and left the ball for an unmarked Diego Luna on the left side of the box, setting himself up perfectly for a one-timer aimed at the far post to take a 1-0 lead. St. Louis answered back in the 21st minute when Jake Nerwinski sent in a cross onto the head of Nicholas Gioacchini who knocked the ball past the fingertips of a diving **Gavin Beavers**. Just three minutes into the second half RSL found its go-ahead goal, the product of selfless linkup play inside the box. Luna beat two defenders and played Maikel Chang who heel-flicked it back to Kreilach and the captain threaded a shot between the legs of defender Lucas Bartlett and passed Bürki for the 2-1 lead. Beavers stepped up in the 65th with his first save of the night, diving to his left and stopping a tough shout to shut down the St. Louis threat. A minute later RSL came storming down the field as Luna sent a leading pass for Andrew Brody, who centered the ball for Kreilach in the middle of the box to slam home his second goal of the game. Beavers and the backline played a tight defense in the remaining 20 plus minutes and RSL held on for the convincing 3-1 win.
What’s Next?: Real Salt Lake returns home to America First Field to face Minnesota United on Saturday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. MT and will celebrate the Club’s annual Pride Night. The following Saturday, July 1 at 5:30 p.m. MT RSL will face Toronto FC north of the border.
