Real Salt Lake picked up its first win of the 2025 competitive season in its fourth attempt, with a (mostly) comfortable 2-0 triumph over rivals Seattle Sounders FC in the team’s domestic season home opener at America First Field on Saturday afternoon.
Sounders defender Nouhou Tolo disastrously put his side behind when he inadvertently headed a teasing cross from RSL wingback Alex Katranis into his own net to give RSL an early advantage, before substitute Forster Ajago sprinkled stardust on a strong team display with a brilliant finish on an inventive move late on to hand Pablo Mastroeni’s charges all of the spoils.
In a contest negotiated, in truth, with a minimum of fuss, there were strong performances aplenty all across the board before Ajago dazzled later on in the second half.
In this latest iteration of our Player Spotlight series, our author analyses two of the most compelling.
Battle-Hard Katranis Returning to Form
Greek wingback Katranis won’t officially get credited with RSL’s first goal on Saturday, not that he’ll much mind after seeing the ball still find its way to his ultimate, ideal destination.
“90 MINUTES, MY LIFE, YOUR DEATH” wasn’t merely intended as a sycophantic, delightful play on words solely designed to get supporters onside; it’s a way of life, and indeed, Katranis’ way of life on the football pitch. Victory, in the end, is all that matters most, and to this effect, the 26-year-old delivered a fine display during the weekend’s round of action.
The former Piast Gliwice man enjoyed a stellar 2024 debut campaign in Major League Soccer for RSL, subsequently being nominated for the MLS Newcomer of the Year award near the season’s end, but suffered a minor-injury-hit start to 2025 across the team’s opening two games of the season.
Saturday, though, saw him close to his best again. On a mostly agreeable afternoon, Katranis provided a consistent presence and threat down the left flank, with his ability as well as his marauding runs in behind, and with the threat of his deliveries into the penalty area which, perhaps fortutously, brought about RSL’s opening goal of the match.
Merely eight minutes in, the 26-year-old received the ball back at his feet following a throw in, right next to the left-hand touchline, and launched a long, searching ball towards the six-yard box which was met by Sounders defender Tolo, ahead of his goalkeeper who’d come out to claim it, and headed into his own net for an own goal.
In a complete, encouraging comeback performance, Katranis also proved efficient in carrying out his defensive duties, keeping powerful Seattle attacker Georgi Minoungou at bay for much of the first half before the latter was substituted at the break, and very nearly also picked up an assist during the opening half. In the 23rd minute, a long forward pass from defender Justen Glad found the run of Katranis in behind the visitors' defense from a wide position and one-on-one with Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei, but his squared pass to teammate Ari Piol was just behind the sprinting striker, who looped his shot over the bar.
Katranis would come close again, this time to scoring himself, early in the second half when he received a pass in the left-hand channel from teammate Dominik Marczuk, but his low strike from distance dragged wide off the goal.
A promising returning display was cut short when he was eventually substituted on the 68-minute mark, but not before recording the second-most key passes (2) of any RSL player on the pitch throughout the 90 minutes, as a further punctuation mark on a solid performance.
Industrious Ajago Scores First MLS Goal, Continues Encouraging Start
Forster Ajago has certainly enjoyed himself a productive week – and deservedly so. Last Wednesday, in the Champions Cup, the Ghanaian striker scored his first-ever goal for the club on his home debut, enduring a mixed performance as RSL were ultimately eliminated from continental competition. On Saturday, however, his stars aligned more positively.
Midway through the second half, with the hosts only a solitary goal ahead and in need of some insurance, Ajago was given the opportunity to better announce himself in front of an expectant Riot – he did so, and in style.
His overall performance upon his substitute introduction left little else to be desired, but it was his goal, or more particularly the manner of it, which served to make him perhaps the truest headline act on a crucial Saturday afternoon.
In the 79th minute, contributing and finishing off a direct flowing team move, Ajago chested down a long pass from goalkeeper Rafael Cabral and quickly laid the ball on to teammate Diogo Gonçalves before swiftly pirouetting in behind his opposing defender and forward to receive the return through pass from Gonçalves. Now beyond the last opposing defender and running one-on-one up against Frei, Ajago took a first touch to knock the ball forward into his stride, and kept his nerve with a second, final touch, just inside the penalty box, to slot home a low, curled effort just beyond the reach of the goalkeeper and into the bottom left-hand corner.
It was a goal of sheer, raw class and industry, and constituted an ingenious piece of center-forward skill from Ajago. A goal in three parts – first, the elite level skill and holdup play to bring down Cabral’s long pass, then the awareness of his teammate, game, and space around to first lay the ball off to Gonçalves near him before quickly spinning in behind his defender and running forward in expectation of an impending through ball. And finally, the calmness and composure under pressure, with so much time and space, to finish so confidently and unerringly past the goalkeeper.
A goal - his first-ever in MLS action, no doubt - almost all on his own work. Strikers generally tend to thrive on the quality of service provided to them by their supporting cast members. Elite or talented strikers, however, are also capable of generating opportunities for themselves on their own through instinct, athleticism, and alertness.
Still only 23 though, Ajago might not categorize in the ‘elite level’ just yet, but his raw talent and potential, intelligence, industry, and hunger for success all abound in an RSL team currently lacking a striker of his particular attributes, and his strike on Saturday was a positive demonstration of all of that and more. With strikes in two successive games and a career-first MLS goal, the 23-year-old picked up a late booking in second-half stoppage time as the only minor, inconsequential blemish on an otherwise strong cameo performance.
Patience, guidance, and, indeed, more opportunities will certainly all be key now as the Ghanaian continues to develop into the caliber of player his talent and potential surely suggest he can become.
