HERRIMAN, Utah (Fri., August 23, 2024) – Real Salt Lake (12-5-8, 44 points, 3rd West MLS) returns to its 2024 Major League Soccer slate Saturday night at home against San Jose Earthquakes (4-19-2, 14 points, 14th West), the first of back-to-back home matches at America First Field in Sandy, UT, to close out the month of August. RSL remains in the thick of the MLS Supporters Shield and Western Conference top-seed races, with the Claret-and-Cobalt hosting four of its next five matches and six of the final nine overall on Utah soil, where Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side has excelled this season.
Kickoff Saturday is at 7:30p MT at America First Field in Sandy, with the match available via Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass, as Blake Price & Paul Dolan (ENG) provide the call, as will Raul Guzman and Carlos Ruiz (SPN).
In its last home match, back on August 1, RSL kicked off its 2024 Leagues Cup experience with a 2-1 home victory over Atlas FC (Liga MX), coming back from an early deficit to win on goals from FW Anderson Julio (45+2’) and MF Nelson Palacio (79’). Palacio’s goal off the bench just one minute after coming on proved to be the game-winner, a nearly 40-yard blast that traveled at 80 miles per hour into the back of the net. RSL FW Andrés Gómez earned the assist on the Julio equalizer in the dying moments of the first half, rewarding yet another standing-room only crowd – including 20,956 for the Leagues Cup opener - at America First Field, which has seen RSL produce six consecutive sellouts and eight in 12 home games this season.
With that win, the Utah side boosted its record on Utah soil this year to 9-2-1 / 28 points, while also improving its all-time record against Mexican visitors across friendly, CONCACAF Champions League and Leagues Cup competitions in the Claret-and-Cobalt’s 20-year history to 5-6-3 / 18 points.
Since the Club’s August 5 Leagues Cup ouster in Houston, RSL completed the most active summer transfer window in the team’s 20-year history, with five new players arriving on the Wasatch Front: FW Benji Michel, DF Javain Brown, M/F Lachlan Brook, MF Diogo Gonçalves and FW Dominik Marczuk. While Michel was able to play 16 minutes in MLS action on July 20 at Colorado – becoming the 212th player in RSL’s 20 MLS seasons and the eighth player to make his Club debut this season, while also making his home debut on August 1 against Atlas – Saturday provides an opportunity for three of the remaining four – Portuguese Designated Player Gonçalves, former Vancouver centerback Brown and Australian youth international Brook – to make their RSL and/or MLS debuts. Due to P-1 visa acquisition process, Polish youth international Marczuk hopes to don the Claret-and-Cobalt for the first time next Saturday, August 31, at home against the New England Revolution.
Outgoing RSL players during the recently-closed MLS window include MF Fidel Barajas (sold to Chivas Guadlajara in LIGA MX), FW Andrés Gómez (sold to Stade Rennais in French Ligue 1) and DF Bryan Oviedo (waived).
Real Salt Lake v. San Jose Earthquakes – MLS Matchday 29
America First Field – Sandy, UT
Saturday, August 24, 2024 – 7:30p MT
Apple TV+ / MLS Season Pass
Game Notes for Saturday’s RSL v San Jose Match Available Online
The Adobe PDF version of the 2024 RSL Game Guide in advance of Saturday’s contest between Real Salt Lake and San Jose can be found HERE. Media members looking to receive the document as an attachment or have further questions are asked to please contact RSL Communications via email at RSLcommunications@RSL.com.
YET ANOTHER BOUNCEBACK RESPONSE REQUIRED DURING MASTROENI ERA ::
RSL returns to MLS action Saturday looking to finally get the bad taste out of its collective mouth from the stunning 0-3 loss at Houston 19 days ago, as a home win or draw would once again provide the requisite “bounceback” response we have come to expect … The resilience, response and determination of RSL’s collective DNA during the Pablo Mastroeni era – also known as the “xDAWG” mentality – was on full display in that August 1, 2-1 come-from-behind home win for RSL against Atlas, following a 12-day break after the disappointing Rocky Mountain Cup loss on July 20 in Colorado … During the now 128 games coached by Mastroeni since taking the Claret-and-Cobalt reins in late August, 2021, RSL has dropped back-to-back matches just nine times overall – with four of the nine occurring last August, following the season-ending, non-contact knee injury suffered by metronomic playmaker Pablo Ruiz in mid-August at LAFC in the Leagues Cup Round of 32 match …
In those 128 games coached by Pablo since late August, 2021, matches following a loss has seen RSL bounce-back successfully and respond with 19 wins and 13 draws against just nine losses, avoiding long droughts and not letting losing streaks fester … Mastroeni’s all-time RSL record across all competitions is now 53W-44L-31T mark in MLS reg. season, MLS Cup Playoff, Leagues Cup, Open Cup and int’l friendly matches, guiding the Club to the 2021 MLS Western Conference Final and the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semifinal …
MLS GOLDEN BOOT LEADER CHICHO ARANGO SET TO RETURN TO MLS ACTION ::
That August 1 Atlas FC home match represented the fourth and final match with MLS suspension imposed on RSL Captain, Colombian striker and MLS Golden Boot leader Chicho Arango, who also missed the 1-1 July 17 RSL draw at LAFC, the 2-3 loss at Colorado on July 20, the July 24 MLS All-Star Game against the Liga MX All-Stars …
Chicho – still the League’s Golden Boot leader by one goal over D.C. United’s Christian Benteke and LAFC man Denis Bouanga despite the Colombian’s scoring drought July 13-20 – did play the final 45 minutes of an 0-3 loss at Houston in RSL’s second Leagues Cup group stage match …
PALACIO BLAST LATEST IN STRING OF LONG-RANGE RSL HEROICS ::
RSL MF Nelson Palacio’s scintillating, game-winning ZAPATAZO Thursday from deep – 38 yards out, 78.1 mph (according to Sportrac) – marks the latest in a string of long-range RSL heroics, with Captain Chicho Arango scoring from midfield back on June 1 in a 5-1 home win against Austin as part of his hat trick that day, while MF Pablo Ruiz saw his 68-yard offering at Audi Field in Washington D.C. last summer a finalist for the 2023 MLS Goal of the Year … RSL’s Sandy, Utah-based venue might not be a desired place in the future for Mexican power Atlas FC, the Rojinegros also playing at the venue now known as America First Field back in October, 2022, as part of that year’s “Leagues Cup Showcase” match … Despite RSL falling at home, 1-2, that midweek October night, the game will be remembered for former RSL Homegrown Aaron Herrera’s long-range goal – a 78-yard bombazo – that gave the home side the lead …
ALL-STARS GLAD, LUNA BACK IN UTAH ::
Real Salt Lake saw its two MLS All-Star representatives – DF **Just**en Glad and MF Diego Luna – return to the Club a week before the Atlas match after spending four days in Columbus, Ohio, as part of Major League Soccer’s annual All-Star festivities … Glad was voted into Wilfried Nancy’s Starting XI against the Liga MX All-Stars by a combination of fan, player and media voting, playing the entire first 45’ and squaring off against such attacking luminaries as Andrés-Pierre Gignac (Tigres), Germán Berterame (Monterrey) and Pedro Rondon (Pachuca) … Luna – named a replacement on the roster for teammate Chicho Arango, who was voted in to the XI but later suspended by MLS – entered the match as a first-half substitute for Portland star Evander, the 20-year old RSL man playing the final 20 minutes of the first half … Luna, also the youngest 2024 MLS All-Star, appeared in several events Tuesday night as part of the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge as well, grinning ear-to-ear all week and introducing his 18-month old son to iconic CONCACAF players …
HOME-HEAVY MLS SCHEDULE STARTING AUGUST 24 v SAN JOSE ::
With the sun now finally setting on the 2024 Leagues Cup tournament, RSL plays six of its final nine MLS contests at home, where the Claret-and-Cobalt boast 8 wins and 1 draw against just 2 losses in league action this season, in addition to a ninth home win over Atlas FC … Saturday’s home match against the San Jose Earthquakes (4-19-2, 14 points, 14th West) is the first of two remaining RSL games against the West’s last-place Quakes, as RSL also hosts the bottom-of-the-East-table New England Revolution (7-14-2, 23 points, 15th East) to close out August …
Following the Sept. 7 weekend international break, RSL’s September run is bookended by a pair of Texas road trips to Austin (Sept. 14) and Houston (Sept. 28), on either side of home games against Dallas and Portland on Sept. 18/21 … RSL welcomes Minnesota on Oct. 2 and Vancouver on the Oct. 19 Decision Day, with an Oct. 5 road trip to the Bay Area prior to another FIFA international window the weekend of Oct. 12 …
