SANDY, Utah (Friday, July 1, 2016) – Real Salt Lake hosts D.C. United TONIGHT in a return to Major League Soccer action for the club, as RSL continues its “Summer of Soccer” with kickoff for the nationally-televised “Viernes de Futbol” match at 8:30 p.m. MT.
Head Coach Jeff Cassar’s team (8-5-3, 27 points, 3rd-best in MLS w/ a 1.69 points-per-game average) resuming action at its vaunted Rio Tinto Stadium home, where RSL is unbeaten in nine games all competitions this season (5-0-4 in MLS, CCL and Open Cup), with Friday the fifth out of eight home games in 10 overall from mid-June to the end of July following the recent install of a new natural grass surface.
RSL – 7-2-1 all-time, all competitions on Utah soil against D.C. United since 2005 – has outscored Major League Soccer’s early-year dynasty 19-8 all-time, losing at Rice-Eccles in 2005 and again in the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final to Head Coach Ben Olsen’s team. On the club’s Independence Day Fireworks’ games in Utah, RSL is 2-1-8 all-time, with the lone home loss coming in 2007 at Rice-Eccles to expansion side Toronto FC.
Currently FW Juan Manuel "Burrito" Martinez (4 goals in his last 6 starts) and FW Yura Movsisyan (5 goals in his last 8 starts) are in red-hot form, while FW Joao Plata, Javier Morales, Jordan Allen and the rest of the RSL attack have combined for a blistering 16 goals in their last seven games overall.
Since the beginning of 2008, RSL now boasts a 103-22-43 mark in its last 168 home games (all comps) in that span, during which it has outscored opponents by 173 goals (296-123), with an 82-17-37 reg. season mark (240/99), the 8-2-2 CCL record (22/8), 5-2-2 playoffs (11/4), as well as an 8-2-1 Open Cup mark (23/12).
The match can be seen locally on KMYU (English, David James and Brian Dunseth) and heard via RSL outlets ESPN700 AM (English, Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jon LaFollette) & 102.3 FM / 1600 AM (Spanish, Fernando Hortal & Nelson Moran). Pre-game coverage airs live locally on ESPN700 AM at 7:00 p.m. MT.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. D.C. United
- Coverage Begins: 8:00 p.m. MT
- Local TV: KMYU – David James & Brian Dunseth
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (7:30 p.m. MT) – Bill Riley, Jay Nolly, Spencer Warne & Jon LaFollette
- Spanish Radio: 102.3 La Gran D FM / 1600 AM – Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal
- Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter feed provides updates
Game Guide for Friday’s RSL v. United Matchup Available Online
The link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Friday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and D.C. United is available by clicking HERE.
