The 21-year-old Colombian proved his team’s brightest spot on an ultimately frustrating night in the 303
Real Salt Lake 2 : 3 Colorado Rapids
Real Salt Lake (12-5-8, 44 points, 3rd West); Colorado Rapids (12-9-5, 41 points, 4th West)
What Happened? A frustrating night in the 303
Real Salt Lake endured the disappointment of its first Rocky Mountain Cup final defeat (non-Covid) since 2015, in a hard-fought but narrow 2-3 loss to Colorado Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday night, in a lightning-marred final match of RSL’s three-game away gauntlet.
21-year-old Andres Gómez netted twice on either side of half-time, in a game that saw Pablo Mastroeni’s men concede two quick-fire goals in the mere space of five first-half minutes, with Cole Basset converting a controversial late penalty winner for the hosts to hand Colorado their first Rocky Mountain Cup title since the disputed 2020 edition.
In a game that was suspended for nearly two hours due to prolonged adverse weather conditions, new RSL signing Benji Michel came on to make his Club debut, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute in place of Anderson Julio. Michel now becomes RSL’s eighth debutant this season, and the 212th different player of all time to don the famously bright shirt of the Claret-and-Cobalt.
Player Spotlight: Andrés Gómez; Boy Wonder
They say lights shine brightest when the night is darkest. Saturday night in Colorado was an especially dark one, but through it all and amidst all the toil and tribulation, one man stood tall above all others, in the face of resilient adversity.
Carlos Andrés Gómez. The brightest light.
The hero of the snowmageddon, the marquis of the Mountain West, the prince on the Wasatch Front.
Deadly, incisive, precise. Like a laser cutting through steel, or a hot knife through butter.
Andres the giant? More like Andrés the goat! Real Salt Lake’s very own boy wonder.
Make that 13 goals and nine assists now in Major League Soccer this season. A truly stellar personal campaign by all accounts. If the rest of the league wasn’t already on notice, they surely must be now. Disregard at your own peril.
RSL’s prince in the West was at his very best again on a difficult night in Colorado, heralding the new age of the Claret-and-Cobalt in the absence of Captain Chicho Arango. The 21-year-old netted a spectacular brace, one goal in each half, to nearly single-handedly catapult the Claret-and-Cobalt onto Rocky Mountain Cup glory, before being undone by an eventual late penalty on the night.
On a night when Chicho served the second match of his three-RSL game suspension, his Colombian compatriot delivered yet another performance far beyond his years, continuing to reverberate his reputation as one of the most talented prodigies and best players the continent has to offer.
On his return from a one-game caution accumulation suspension served in the LAFC game, RSL’s second-top scorer wasted no time in making his presence known, opening the scoring within the opening 10 minutes with a daisy cutter from distance. In the ninth minute, teammate Bryan Oviedo won a turnover high up in midfield that fell at the feet of Gómez, who took a couple of steps forward to center himself before firing a powerful low right-footed effort that skimmed the ground before flying past Zac Steffen and into the bottom left corner. It was a simply stunning strike that equally silenced the home crowd to establish an early Salt Lake lead at DSG Park.
Then in the second half, and with RSL having gone a goal down in the contest, Gómez struck again, this time with a bit of help from Julio. Barely five minutes after the second-half restart, Julio received the ball on a counter-attack, and in a central position at the top of the box, before finding Gómez with a simple pass to his right who in turn took a couple of touches before cutting infield and rifling a curled thunderous effort past Steffen before he could even react and into the top left corner to restore parity in the contest.
It represented yet another phenomenal performance from the 21-year-old who has quickly shrugged off the struggles of acclimatization from his first season to now become one of the very first names on Pablo’s teamsheet. His brace on the night also represented his fourth multi-goal game of the season, and second in his last six appearances.
The Colombian international now ranks joint fifth in the MLS Golden Boot race, with 13 goals and an additional nine assists in 23 appearances for the Claret-and-Cobalt this season, totaling 22 direct goal contributions, more than triple his overall tally last year (6).
Lights shine brightest when the night is darkest, and when the lights shone brightest in Colorado on Saturday night, RSL’s footballing prince answered the call.
Throughout his 90 minutes played, Gómez completed a total of 34 successful passes at a percentage accuracy of 85 percent including three key passes, four total shots with two on target, and two goals. A thoroughly effective performance indeed.
Did You Know?
Saturday night’s result was only the Rapid’s sixth-ever Rocky Mountain Cup win in the rivalry’s 20-year history! Since its inaugural edition in 2005, the Claret-and-Cobalt have won the trophy in 14 different years compared to the Rapid’s six. RSL won the Rocky Mountain Cup title every year from 2007 and 2012, and then every year from 2016 and 2019. RSL had also won every year since the Rapid’s previous last win in 2020, meaning their win this year finally ends the Utah side’s 3-year stranglehold on the much-coveted trophy.
What This Means/What Comes Next
The result at Colorado now places RSL at third in the MLS Western Conference standings, three points behind LAFC who have a game in hand of RSL, and five behind LA Galaxy who have played a game more.
Pablo and the boys will be looking to return, rest, and recover from a difficult road gauntlet and resume preparations ahead of RSL’s opening game of the Leagues Cup, and as the team heads into the business end of the 2024 season.
RSL will kick off its 2024 Leagues Cup campaign on Thursday, August 1 against Atlas FC (Liga MX) at America First Field. Kickoff is at 7 PM MT.
Important Milestones
Andrés Gómez scores his 12th and 13th goals of the year to collect his fourth multi-goal game of 2024 and move into a tie for 5th place in the MLS Golden Boot Race, just five goals behind the current leader and teammate, Captain Chicho Arango (17).
First-time All-Star, homegrown center-back Justen Glad made his first start since June 1, playing the full 90 minutes after his return Wednesday at LAFC for one official minute following a six-match injury absence.
RSL dropped to third place in the Western Conference standings, trailing LA Galaxy and LAFC by five and three points, respectively. The four days since Wednesday’s draw to LAFC are the first period that RSL has not been in first place in the Western Conference since mid-March.
First-time All-Star and homegrown defender Justen Glad made his return to the starting lineup for the first time since June 1, playing the full 90. He led the match with 99 completed passes, a season-high for him, at a staggering 92% completion rate.
Newly signed RSL attacking midfielder Benji Michel made his debut, coming on in the 74th minute. The 26-year-old former U.S. youth international most recently played for Portuguese side Arouca and previously made 119 appearances across all competitions, scoring 19 goals and tallying nine assists for Orlando City FC from 2019-2022.
Lights shine brightest when the night is darkest, and when the lights shone brightest in Colorado on Saturday night, RSL’s footballing prince answered the call.
Throughout his 90 minutes played, Gómez completed a total of 34 successful passes at a percentage accuracy of 85 percent including three key passes, four total shots with two on target, and two goals. A thoroughly effective performance indeed.
Did You Know?
Saturday night’s result was only the Rapid’s sixth-ever Rocky Mountain Cup win in the rivalry’s 20-year history! Since its inaugural edition in 2005, the Claret-and-Cobalt have won the trophy in 14 different years compared to the Rapid’s six. RSL won the Rocky Mountain Cup title every year from 2007 and 2012, and then every year from 2016 and 2019. RSL had also won every year since the Rapid’s previous last win in 2020, meaning their win this year finally ends the Utah side’s 3-year stranglehold on the much-coveted trophy.
What This Means/What Comes Next
The result at Colorado now places RSL at third in the MLS Western Conference standings, three points behind LAFC who have a game in hand of RSL, and five behind LA Galaxy who have played a game more.
Pablo and the boys will be looking to return, rest, and recover from a difficult road gauntlet and resume preparations ahead of RSL’s opening game of the Leagues Cup, and as the team heads into the business end of the 2024 season.
RSL will kick off its 2024 Leagues Cup campaign on Thursday, August 1 against Atlas FC (Liga MX) at America First Field. Kickoff is at 7 PM MT.
Important Milestones
Andrés Gómez scores his 12th and 13th goals of the year to collect his fourth multi-goal game of 2024 and move into a tie for 5th place in the MLS Golden Boot Race, just five goals behind the current leader and teammate, Captain Chicho Arango (17).
First-time All-Star, homegrown center-back Justen Glad made his first start since June 1, playing the full 90 minutes after his return Wednesday at LAFC for one official minute following a six-match injury absence.
RSL dropped to third place in the Western Conference standings, trailing LA Galaxy and LAFC by five and three points, respectively. The four days since Wednesday’s draw to LAFC are the first period that RSL has not been in first place in the Western Conference since mid-March.
First-time All-Star and homegrown defender Justen Glad made his return to the starting lineup for the first time since June 1, playing the full 90. He led the match with 99 completed passes, a season-high for him, at a staggering 92% completion rate.
Newly signed RSL attacking midfielder Benji Michel made his debut, coming on in the 74th minute. The 26-year-old former U.S. youth international most recently played for Portuguese side Arouca and previously made 119 appearances across all competitions, scoring 19 goals and tallying nine assists for Orlando City FC from 2019-2022.
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