SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake (16-11-4, 52 points, West #2) will take on the L.A. Galaxy (15-11-5, 50 points, West #3) in a match teeming with playoff implications on Saturday, Oct. 6 at the Home Depot Center in Southern California. The game – which will kickoff at 7:00 p.m. MT – will be broadcast nationally on the NBC Sports Network as well as on ESPN700AM and La Gran D 102.3FM/Juan 1600AM.
NBC Sports Network will air the RSL captain Kyle Beckerman episode of MLS 36 – the fifth and final installment of the acclaimed behind-the-scenes profile series of MLS’ top players – immediately following the game.
RSL – which has just three regular season games remaining – heads into Saturday’s match on a roll, winners of its last three matches and 5-1-1 in its last seven across all competitions. The Claret-and-Cobalt – which has allowed just two goals in the last 630 minutes in MLS and CCL play – put the hurt on Chivas USA last Saturday, getting a hat trick from star FW Álvaro Saborío to beat the Goats 4-0 at the Home Depot Center.
Head coach Jason Kreis and co. currently sit in second-place in the Western Conference, two points up on the third-place Galaxy and ahead of fourth-place Seattle Sounders FC – which has a game in hand on both RSL and L.A. – by three points. Both Real Salt Lake and L.A. will play Seattle before the end of the season; RSL will take on the Sounders at CenturyLink Field on Oct. 17.
Real Salt Lake will want to hang onto its spot in the Western Conference’s top-three, as the fourth-seed will have to play a one-off knockout game against the West’s fifth-seed to advance to the Conference Semifinals against the top-seed. Playing in the elimination game would force RSL to play seven games in 24 days from Oct. 23-Nov. 17 in order to advance to the MLS Cup Final.
The Claret-and-Cobalt is 1-1-0 against L.A. this year, defeating the Galaxy 3-1 at the Home Depot Center in the season opener on March 10 and giving up a two-goal lead to fall to L.A. 3-2 at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 20. RSL will be looking to extend its perfect 2012 record at the Home Depot Center on Saturday, having gone 3-0-0 – two wins over Chivas, one over L.A. – and outscoring the opposition 10-1 in games at the Carson, Calif. facility this season.
RSL has a bit of a break following Saturday’s game, not playing again until the Oct. 17 match at Seattle. The Claret-and-Cobalt will follow that match up with a must-win CONCACAF Champions League Group 2 game against Costa Rican champs C.S. Herediano at home on Oct. 23.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake at L.A. Galaxy
- Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. MT at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, Calif.
- TV: NBC Sports Network (Steve Cangialosi and Brian Dunseth on the call)
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (Pregame begins at 6:30 p.m. MT)
- Spanish Radio: La Gran D 102.3 FM & Juan 1600 AM (Nelson Moran & Fernando Hortal on the call)
- Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter Feed will provide match updates
Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL at L.A. Match Now Available Online
Following is the link to the Adobe PDF version of the Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and the L.A. Galaxy. If you have any problems obtaining the document, would prefer to receive it as an attachment, or are seeking more information on the match, please contact Media Services Manager Sam Stejskal in the RSL Communications Department via email at sstejskal@realsaltlake.com.
Click here to download the PDF version of the RSL at L.A. MLS Game Guide
RSL History v. L.A.
Real Salt Lake and the Galaxy are all-even in their all-time series, with both sides compiling an 8-8-5 regular season record against the other. RSL has done relatively well against the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center, going 4-6-1 in 11 games at L.A. Including games against Chivas USA, nine of RSL’s 24 all-time road wins have come at the Home Depot Center.
The teams have split the meetings this year. RSL took the first match, getting three goals in the final 17 minutes to defeat the Galaxy 3-1 at the Home Depot Center in the March 10 season opener. The Galaxy nabbed the second game, erasing RSL’s early 2-0 lead to win 3-2 at Rio Tinto Stadium on June 20.
