SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake (7-5-3, 24 points, West #2) will continue its lengthy home stand on Saturday, when it will take on fellow Western Conference power the LA Galaxy (6-5-2, 20 points, West #4) at 7:30 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium.
Saturday’s match will be broadcast live on ABC4, ESPN700 AM and 102.3 La Gran D FM/1600 AM. ABC4 will air its 30-minute Ford Postgame Show immediately following the match; ESPN 700 will begin its pregame coverage at 6:30 p.m. MT and will air an hour-long postgame show immediately following the final whistle. Saturday’s match is the first of three consecutive league games that will be broadcast over-the-air on ABC4.
Saturday’s match will be RSL’s fourth straight home game. The Claret-and-Cobalt began its home stand on May 25, tying the Chicago Fire 1-1 in MLS action. The team had a quick turnaround following the draw, beating the second-division Atlanta Silverbacks 3-2 after extra time in the third-round of the 2013 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. RSL continued its congested schedule last Saturday with a 3-0 win against the San Jose Earthquakes.
Real Salt Lake has played LA once this year, losing to a makeshift Galaxy lineup 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on April 27. LA scored twice in the first 15 minutes through FW Charlie Rugg and MF Mike Magee, who the Galaxy recently traded to Chicago for MF Robbie Rogers, the first active openly gay male athlete in North American professional sports.
The Claret-and-Cobalt will be without three players on Saturday due to international duty. RSL FW Alvaro Saborio (Costa Rica) and DF Abdoulie Mansally (The Gambia) are both with their respective national teams for World Cup Qualifying matches, while MF Luis Gil departed Salt Lake City on Thursday to join the U.S. Under-20 national team for its training camp ahead of this summer’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.
RSL and LA are even in their all-time series, with the Claret-and-Cobalt owning a 9-9-5 MLS regular season record against the Southern California side. Real Salt Lake is 4-3-4 against LA in Utah. When including MLS Cup Playoff games, RSL is 9-10-6 against the Galaxy. The Claret-and-Cobalt famously beat the Galaxy in a penalty kick shootout to win the 2009 MLS Cup Final. Salt Lake edges LA in the scoring margin 40-39 in all competitions.
Several RSL players have Southern California connections. RSL GK Nick Rimando (Montclair, Calif; UCLA), DF Tony Beltran (Claremont, Calif.; UCLA), MF Luis Gil (Garden Grove, Calif.) and DF Kwame Watson-Siriboe (Chino Hills, Calif.) are all from the LA-area, while MF Ned Grabavoy and GK Josh Saunders both won MLS Cups with the Galaxy, with Grabavoy taking home the 2005 trophy and Saunders winning the Cup in 2011 and 2012.
RSL enters Saturday’s match on a tear. The Claret-and-Cobalt is 5-1-1 in its last seven games across all competitions and 4-1-1 in MLS action since the start of May. Since the start of May, RSL has the most points in the league and is tied for the best goal differential in the league.
LA is in the midst of a rough patch, having gone 2-5-0 across all competitions since beating RSL 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium on April 27. The Galaxy has lost three of its last four across all competitions and hasn’t won a game since beating Seattle Sounders FC 4-0 at home on May 26. LA was blown out in its last match, falling 5-0 at the New England Revolution on Sunday. It was the Galaxy’s second straight loss after it was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup by the second-division Carolina RailHawks in third-round action on May 29.
RSL will have a quick turnaround following Saturday’s match, resuming Open Cup action with a fourth-round match against the USL-Pro Charleston Battery on Wednesday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium. The Claret-and-Cobalt’s next MLS match after Saturday’s game isn’t until June 22, when it will host Seattle Sounders FC at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets to both matches are still available and can be purchased online at www.RealSaltLake.com/Tickets, at the Rio Tinto Stadium box office or over the phone at 801-727-2700.
How to Follow Real Salt Lake v. LA Galaxy
- Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. MT at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah
- TV: ABC4 (Ford Postgame Show to immediately follow final whistle)
- English Radio: ESPN700 AM (Pregame begins at 6:30 p.m. MT)
- Spanish Radio: La Gran D 102.3 FM & Juan 1600 AM
- Online: The @RealSaltLake Twitter Feed will provide live match updates
Click here to download the PDF version of the MLS Game Guide for Saturday’s RSL-LA matchup
RSL History v. LA Galaxy
Real Salt Lake is 9-9-5 all-time in MLS regular season play against the LA Galaxy. The Claret-and-Cobalt is 4-3-4 against the Galaxy in Utah, losing its last match against the Southern California side in the Beehive State 2-0 on April 27.
RSL and LA have met once already this year, with the Galaxy handing Salt Lake its first home loss of the season with a makeshift lineup. Former LA MF Mike Magee opened the scoring in the sixth minute followed by another tally by rookie FW Charlie Rugg in the 13th.
