SANDY, Utah (Friday, September 11, 2015) – Real Salt Lake hits the road Saturday at Houston, in the second of two back-to-back league matches in Texas as Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s club seeks to snap an active eight-game road losing streak in MLS play and close the gap in the Western Conference Playoff chase. Saturday’s match will be broadcast live on KMYU starting at 6 p.m MT, with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. MT.
English radio pregame airs live on ESPN700 AM at 5:30 p.m. MT, with regional TV coverage via American Sports Network outside of Utah kicking off at 6 p.m. MT in Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona, with David James and Brian Dunseth on the call.
Following a bye week, RSL looks to rebound from a 2-0 loss to FC Dallas on August 29 and repeat last year’s result in Houston, a 5-2 victory for RSL that saw MF Javier Morales score the fastest goal in club history 15 seconds into the match on his way to recording a hat trick while also adding an assist on May 11, 2014. In their only previous meeting this season, RSL dominated Houston in a 2-0 victory at Rio Tinto Stadium on July 18. Morales and FW Joao Plata both registered one goal and one assist while GK Jeff Attinella earned the shutout for his first clean sheet of the season.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake at Houston Dynamo
• Coverage Begins: 6:00 p.m. MT
• Web Stream: MLS LIVE
• TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Dunseth
• English Radio: ESPN700 AM (5:30 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley & Brian Kamler
• Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
• Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter feed provides updates
Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL at Houston Matchup Now Available Online
Following is the link to the Adobe PDF version of the MLS Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and FC Dallas.
RSL could see first start of new FW Juan Manuel Martinez, nicknamed “El Burrito,” who arrived last month from Argentina after three seasons with legendary club Boca Juniors. RSL’s win over the Dynamo last season was its first ever in Houston, the lone bright spot in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s all-time 1-8-1 mark in the Space City.
RSL will see the return of several players from international duty. In total, eight players from the organization were called in to matches last week, including Real Monarchs GK Christian Herrera with the U.S. U-20 National Team. He was joined by DF Justen Glad and FW Sebastian Saucedo, going 1-2-0 in three matches in Serbia while posting a win in the final match against Israel. MF Luis Gil and DF Boyd Okwuonu were with the U.S. U-23 National Team in England undergoing final preparations for October’s 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament. That team posted a loss to England and a win over Qatar in two friendlies in England. In other competitions, DF Demar Phillips helped Jamaica reach the fourth round of CONCACAF’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying with a comeback win over Nicaragua, needing a 2-0 win in the second leg to post a 4-3 series win. DF Elias Vasquez saw the same fate with Guatemala, earning a 2-0 win in the second leg for a 2-1 series win over Antigua & Barbuda. Meanwhile in African Cup of Nations qualifying, DF Abdoulie Mansally and The Gambia suffered a 1-0 loss to Cameroon in the second of six matches in the tournament.
Following that completion of the “Texas Two-Step,” RSL travels directly to San Salvador, facing Santa Tecla FC in RSL’s second group-stage match of the 2015/16 CONCACAF Champions League tourney. RSL won 1-0 in Guatemala City back on Aug. 4 against Municipal, the current group leaders with four points from three games. RSL returns home for CCL contests on Thurs., Sept. 24 against Santa Tecla and Tues., Oct. 20 versus Municipal in bids to win the group and advance to next February’s Quarterfinal knockout stage.
Morales would surpass former defender Nat Borchers with 206 all-time MLS regular-season games started for RSL with an appearance in the XI on Saturday, while his next assist would be the 75th of his illustrious career, as the “Maestro” has accounted for nearly 25% of the club’s all-time goals despite missing all of 2005/06 and most of the 2007 and 2011 seasons.
RSL will face Houston without the services of DF Tony Beltran and MF Luke Mulholland as both players will serve a one-match suspension for yellow-card accumulation. They will be eligible to return to MLS action when RSL hosts the LA Galaxy on September 19 at Rio Tinto Stadium.
RSL hopes to snap an eight-game road losing streak in MLS action, the club’s second-longest drought away from home since its 2005 expansion season (14 consecutive losses). RSL started this season with three straight road shutouts, but only boasts one road clean sheet in its last 10 away trips since April 11, winning 1-0 at Municipal in Guatemala last month.
