FRISCO, Texas (Saturday, May 25, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (8-2-5 / 29 points / 1st West) rebounded from a three-goal deficit Saturday in Frisco, Texas, riding goals from Diego Luna, Anderson Julio and the last-gasp equalizer from Nelson Palacio to snatch a point at FC Dallas in Toyota Stadium. The “never-say-die” attitude by Pablo Mastroeni’s men extended its overall unbeaten run to 11 games, as tonight’s draw also gives the Utah side SEVEN consecutive road results.
First-place RSL improves to three wins and four draws against just one loss away from home this season, last losing a road match in the 2024 MLS opener back on Feb. 21 at Miami. Tonight’s RSL comeback from three goals down marks the first time RSL has EVER, while the Claret-and-Cobalt have come from behind four times this season to earn 10 of its 29 points: 2-1 win at Vancouver on March 23, a 3-1 win vs. St. Louis on March 30, last week in a 5-3 home win over Colorado, and again in tonight’s 3-3 draw at Dallas.
RSL Captain Chicho Arango was shut out from finding the scoresheet for just the fourth time in 15 matches this season, but remains the MLS Golden Boot leader with his 13 goals and 8 assists. During the current 11-game run, RSL has outscored opponents 25-12, scoring first in six of the 11 matches and hammering home five game-winning goals and now tonight’s equalizer in the final 15 minutes of matches.
Off to the best start in Club history with 29 points from 15 matches (exceeding both 2016 and 2014), RSL has ascended to the top of the Western Conference for its latest first-place bragging rights in the calendar since April 30, 2016, and the latest solo No. 1 in the West since August 2013. This week’s back-to-back road contests precede the June 1 home match against Austin FC, just the fourth of four America First Field matches for RSL from mid-April to mid-June, the Claret-and-Cobalt playing eight of 12 away from home during that span, including the trip to Dallas and a midweek rematch at Seattle. RSL will then enjoy a much-needed early June 8 international bye weekend prior to again traveling to Montreal and Kansas City on June 15/19 to wrap up the circuitous gauntlet.
RSL 3 : 3 at DAL
GOAL-SCORING SUMMARY:
DAL – 45+3 – Illarramendi (Delgado): Taking the ball wide off a corner kick, Illaramendi’s curling right-footed service sailed over danger and into the hands RSL GK Zac MacMath, who appeared to change his mind from a double-fisted punch to a catch at the last second, the ball squirting through the veteran’s hands and into the goal;
DAL – 57 – Patrickson Delgado (unassisted): Off an RSL corner kick, the Dallas ‘keeper sprung a counter that saw MacMath near midfield, where his clearance attempt was collected by Delgado and converted into the empty net for a 2-0 Dallas lead;
DAL – 59’ – Paul Arriola (Illarramendi): Dallas pressed forward with confidence just minutes after taking a 2-0 lead, with Illarramendi playing Arriola wide into the box, where the former U.S. Men’s National Team player slotted a hard low shot around DF Philip Quinton and past an outstretched MacMath to tuck his shot inside the far left post;
RSL – 61’ – Diego Luna (Andrés Gómez, Matt Crooks): RSL starlet Diego Lunastarted the comeback by slotting home his third goal of the season from the top of the six, as Matt Crooks started the sequence with a seeing-eye pass from the middle of the field to Andrés Gómez in alone on the far side of the box, the young Colombian offering a square pass for Luna to hammer home;
RSL – 73’ – Anderson Julio (Maikel Chang): The pair of RSL substitutes combined on a short restart opportunity, Chang playing the ball to Julio at the box corner extended; the Ecuadorean Julio took one touch to his right, sending the defender off-kilter before slamming a near-post laser into the upper 90 past a helpless Dallas GK;
RSL – 90+8 – Nelson Palacio (Anderson Julio): In what was essentially the final kick of the match, RSL midfielder Nelson Palacio found himself alone at the top of the 18 following a recirculation pass from Anderson Julio; Palacio took one touch and calmly slotted a medium-paced shot through the Dallas mixer, beating GK Maarten Paes inside his right post and rescuing a point for visiting Claret-and-Cobalt.
NOTES FROM RSL 3 : 3 at DAL:
- For the first time ever in RSL’s 629-game MLS reg. season history, the Club rebounded from an 0-3 deficit to capture a point; Diego Luna and Anderson Julio each scored scored their third goals of the season tonight, both trailing Chicho Arango (13 goals) and Andres Gómez (7 goals); Nelson Palacio scored his first-ever RSL goal tonight
- The active 11-game MLS unbeaten run is the second-longest single-season streak and the Club’s fourth-longest overall in RSL’s 20-season history, matching last year’s 11-game streak across three competitions, as well as a 16-game run from 2013 into 2014, and a Club-record 18-game unbeaten streak from July 2010 to April 2011 … For the first time ever, RSL now owns back-to-back seasons with unbeaten runs of nine games or longer … With one more win/draw results at Seattle Wednesday, RSL could establish a new single-season unbeaten streak record
- Real Salt Lake’s recent three-game MLS win streak – snapped May 11 at LA Galaxy with the 95th-minute concession on the last kick of the game – was the Claret-and-Cobalt’s first in nearly two years. RSL last strung together three straight victories in league action in both May and March of 2022; RSL also had three such streaks in the 2019 season. However, RSL had not enjoyed a three-game win streak involving two road victories – as the recent run did – since August, 2018. How will this week’s trips to Dallas and Seattle rewrite the record books?
With a goal in either of his next two matches, Chicho would become the second-fastest active playerto reach the milestone behind only Josef Martinez (54 games), possibly becoming just the fourth active player to reach the mark in fewer than 100 games:
Active players to reach the career 50-goal milestone in fewer than 100 career games:
Player Goal # Game # Date
Josef Martinez 50 54 10/28/2018
Raul Ruidiaz 50 79 11/01/2021
Hany Mukhtar 51 93 05/20/2023
Chicho Arango 49 77 ???
- Chicho scored 30 of his 49 career MLS reg. season goals during the 2021 and 2022 seasons in 51 games with LAFC (0.59 goals per game, and a rate of 0.72 goals per 90), and has scored 19 in 25 games (0.76/game, 0/87 per 90) across the last 10 months with RSL, spanning the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Chicho needs 12 more Claret-and-Cobalt goals in the remaining 19 games of the current MLS campaign to surpass his LAFC output on a volume basis, with his per-game numbers significantly better at RSL.
- Tonight, MF Emeka Eneli (1330 minutes of a possible 1350) was subbed out for the first time this season in the 70th minute, ending his “Iron Man” streak. Eneli and FW Chicho Arango (1325 min.) have played nearly every minute of the Club’s 15-game MLS season so far in 2024, with DF Andrew Brody (1202) also appearing in every match.
- Three players to have appeared in 14 league games, missing just one game this year – Anderson Julio, Braian Ojeda and Andrés Gómez – while Justen Glad, Matt Crooks, Diego Luna and Fidel Barajas have each appeared in 13 of 15 MLS contests thus far, with a heavily-congested May/June continuing this week
LINEUPS:
Real Salt Lake (4-2-3-1): Zac MacMath; Andrew Brody, Justen Glad, Philip Quinton, Alex Katranis (Bryan Oviedo 62); Emeka Eneli (Nelson Palacio 70), Braian Ojeda; Andrés Gómez (Maikel Chang 62), Matt Crooks (Fidel Barajas 62), Diego Luna (Anderson Julio 62); Chicho Arango ©
Subs not used: Gavin Beavers, Bertin Jacquesson, Brayan Vera
FC Dallas (3-4-3): Maarten Paes; Nkosi Tafari, Sebastien Ibeagha, Sam Junqua; Marco Farfan (Dante Sealy 66), Asier Illarramendi, Liam Fraser (Nolan Norris 81), Ema Twumasi; Patrickson Delgado (Sebastiqn Lletget 88), Paul Arriola © (Bernardo Kamungo 66), Petar Musa
Subs not used: Jimmy Maurer; Omar Gonzalez, Carl Sainte, Katiego Ntsabeleng, Logan Farrington
Stats Summary: DAL / RSL
Shots: 16 / 19
Shots on Goal: 11 / 8
Saves: 3 / 4
Corner Kicks: 5 / 7
Fouls: 12 / 8
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY:
DAL: Liam Fraser (Caution – 38’)
DAL: Maarten Paes (Caution – 78’)
DAL: Nolan Norris (Caution – 81’)
DAL: Sebastien Ibeagha (Caution – 86’)
